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I. 







I 






















HUMAN BODY AND HEALTH 


REVISED 


AN INTERMEDIATE TEXTBOOK OF 
ESSENTIAL PHYSIOLOGY, APPLIED HYGIENE, AND 
PRACTICAL SANITATION FOR SCHOOLS 


BY 


ALVIN DAVISON, M.S., A.M., Ph.D. 

' LATE PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY 
LAFAYETTE COLLEGE 


INTERMEDIATE 


AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 


BOSTON 


ATLANTA 


. 3^3 


Copyright, 1909 , by 
ALVIN DAVISON. 
Copyright, 1924 , by 
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. 


HUMAN body, revised. INT. 
W. P. I 


I 

MADE IN U.S.A. 


OTD 2“^ "p/l 
©C1A801980 



PREFACE 


A few minutes* reflection in regard to the modern ways of 
living will fix in the mind of any sound reasoner the con¬ 
viction that we are a careless and cruel people. Nearly 
1000 human beings in the United States are dying daily of 
diseases which science has shown how to prevent. Streams 
are polluted, garbage dumped on the nearest vacant lot, 
fresh air and sunshine shut out of the houses by double 
doors and windows, and innocent children fed dirty milk 
because people do not realize that these acts are respon¬ 
sible for many of the 4000 graves daily made in our nation’s 
cemeteries. 

Sanitary science and the public health can be advanced 
only as they are supported by an intelligent public opinion. 
Laws necessary to the public welfare can be secured and up¬ 
held when the majority of citizens appreciate the value of 
the problems involved. New ideas are grasped most readily 
by the young and it is with them that modem hygienic 
teaching will have the greatest influence. Parents do not 
recognize that eyesight is being impaired, normal growth 
prevented, blood poisoned, and the body starved because of 
customs and habits born in ignorance. 

An effort has been made to present in this book the sub¬ 
ject of personal and public health in such a way as to appeal 
to the interest of boys and girls and fix in their minds the 
essentials of right living. Knowing anatomy and physiology 
is of little value to our young folks unless it helps them to 
practice intelligently in their daily lives the teachings of 
hygiene and sanitation. 

In place of general statements in regard to promoting 
health, specific facts and full explanations are given showing 

5 


6 


PREFACE 


how disease is caused and how the body may be kept well 
and strong. Much labor and expense have been devoted to 
the preparation of the illustrations which the pupils should 
be required to study carefully. 

A few experiments have been outlined and many other 
experiments and helpful suggestions for the teacher are 
given in the Advanced book- of this series. The im¬ 
portance of proving the truth and making clear the leading 
facts relating to efficient living, by simple demonstrations 
and experiments cannot be overestimated. 

Every teacher is urged to secure from the State Board of 
Health, at the capital of the state, copies of the numerous 
bulletins issued concerning health. These are sent free to 
those requesting them. The teacher who does her duty in 
imparting instruction that invites health and happiness will 
bless not only those of to-day, but generations yet unborn. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Human Body as a Living Machine . . 9 


II. 

Plants and Animals Related to Health 


13 

III. 

The Plan of the Human Body 

• 

• 

21 

IV. 

Food for the Body . 

• 

• 

27 

V. 

The Care and Cooking of Food 

• 

• 

36 

VI. 

How Food is used by the Body . 

• 

• 

42 

VIL 

Drink and Health 

• 

• 

60 

VIII. 

Tobacco and Other Narcotics and 

ON Health . . 

their 

Effect 

71 

IX. 

The Blood and its Passage through 

THE Body 

78 

X. 

Breathing and its Use 

• 

• 

95 

XI. 

Air and Health . 

• 

• 

103 

XII. 

Cleanliness and Warmth , 

• 

• 

113 

XIII. 

Clothing and Colds 

• 

• 

127 

XIV. 

The Bones .... 

• 

• 

133 

XV. 

The Muscles and Exercise 

• 

c 

143 

XVI. 

How the Body is Gc v^erned 

• 

• 

153 

XVII. 

The Care of the Nervous System 

coTics Affect it 

AND HOW NaR- 

165 


7 


8 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XVIII. Organs for Receiving Knowledge ^ . 174 

XIX. The Cause of Sickness ..... 188 

XX. How TO Keep Well ..... 200 

Pronunciation and Explanation of Difficult 

Words ..... 215 


Index 


219 


THE HUMAN BODY AND HEALTH 


CHAPTER I 

THE HUMAN BODY AS A LIVING MACHINE 

The Body like a Locomotive.—^The locomotive moves 
about and does work at the bidding of the engineer. It 
does this just as long as it is supplied with water, and coal 
or wood, if the ashes, the burnt waste matters, are re¬ 
moved, and if its parts are kept in order. 

No engineer is trusted to manage a locomotive until he 
understands all its parts and how they work. To avoid 
wrecks and loss of life, he must examine his machine at 
the end of every trip and see that every screw, lever and 
wheel is in proper order. 

The human body is in many ways like the locomotive 
and each person is his own engineer. The body does 
what its owner commands as long as it is fed, if the ashes, 
the waste matters, are removed and if its parts are kept 
in a healthy condition. 

Why One should know the Parts of the Body.—No rail¬ 
road company will trust the management of a locomotive 
to an engineer who does not know its parts, because by 
the neglect to repair a weak or worn part the entire engine 
may be ruined. For the same reason every person, who 
is the engineer of his own body, should know its parts. 

9 


10 THE HUMAN BODY AS A LIVING MACHINE 

The study of the parts of the body and their location is 
called anatomy. The greatest use of anatomy is to help 
one to understand how the parts of the body do their 
work. 

Learning the Use of the Parts.—The engineer must 
understand the use of each lever, wheel and screw in his 
engine in order to determine when they are in proper work¬ 
ing condition. A person must likewise know the use of 
the various parts of his body to understand when they are 
doing their work properly. 

The use of any certain portion of the body is spoken of 
as its function. The study of the function of the heart, 
lungs or other parts of the body is known as physiology. 

One of the chief benefits to be had from the study of 
physiology is the knowledge which aids us much in under¬ 
standing how to care for the body. By proper care all 
its parts may be kept in a healthy state and in most cases 
sickness may be prevented. 

Taking Care of the Body.—The body is a much more 
delicate machine than the locomotive. It is often injured 
by food taken at the wrong time, or in too large quantities. 
Impure oil and dirty coal sometimes clog parts of the 
locomotive and make it do poor work. Impure air and 
unclean food and water often seriously damage the human 
body so as to cause sickness and even death. 

The study of the care of the body and of how to prevent 
fevers, colds and ill health of all sorts is called hygiene. 
Happiness and health depend largely upon hygiene. 

Importance of Hygiene.—During the eighteenth century, 
it is estimated that 50,000,000 persons died of sm.allpox 


THE HUMAN BODY AS A LIVING MACHINE 


11 


in Europe. To-day the disease is so uncommon that many 
physicians have never seen a case. 

Scurvy which afflicted so many of the sailors a century 
or two ago now seldom occurs because the men have 
learned what kind of food to eat to avoid the disease. Of 
the French soldiers who went to fight the people of Mada¬ 
gascar, seven thousand died of fevers which we now know 
how to prevent, and only twenty-nine were killed in battle. 
In our war with Spain, less than three hundred of our 
soldiers were killed in battle, but over three thousand 
died of disease which hygiene has shown how to avoid. 

What Hygiene does.—Hygiene protects the body in 
time of peace as the shield and steel armor of the old 
Romans protected them in time of war. Health depends 
largely upon preventing tiny plants and animals called 
germs, from feeding upon our bodies, and upon supplying 
the body with the proper food, air, drink and clothing. 

Among every thousand people there are more than twice 
as many deaths yearly in Russia and India as in Sweden. 
This is because the Russians and people of India do not 
observe the teachings of hygiene so carefully as the 
Swedes. In London, a hundred years ago, the number of 
deaths in every thousand residents was three times as 
great as in the year 1900. 

Why All should know Hygiene.—In order that we may 
be a healthy nation, every one must observe the laws of 
hygiene. Each person by his own efforts alone may not 
be able to protect his health, for the ignorant may furnish 
him bad food or bad water. A milkman caused 236 cases 
of diphtheria in one city by being so careless as to help care 


12 


THE HUMAN BODY AS A LIVING MACHINE 


for the milk when he was recovering from diphtheria. One 
hundred years ago, the average length of human life in 
the United States was 28 years. Hygiene has shown us 
how to prevent sickness and death so that the average 
length of life is now 42 years. 


J500-1600 

1600-1700 

1700-1800 

1800-1850 

1850- 

igoo- 





igoo 

igio 

15 acres 

14 acres 

13 acres 

nacres 

aacres 

racres 


Fig. 1 —Number of acres required yearly to bury the dead among each 
1,000,000 inhabitants in Germany, England and the United States. 
Note that the number of deaths is decreasing as people learn how 
to avoid disease. 


Practical Questions 

1. In what way is the body like a locomotive? 2. Why should a 
person know much about his body? 3. What is meant by anatomy? 
4. Of what use is anatomy? 5. Why should you know the use of 
the parts of the body? 6. What is physiology? 7. How does the 
study of physiology benefit one? 8. Describe what is meant by 
hygiene? 9. Name some diseases which long ago killed many. 
10. Upon what does health depend? 11. Why do more people 
die in some countries than in others? 12. Why can one not pro¬ 
tect his health by his efforts alone? 13. How can we secure the 
best health as a nation? 








CHAPTER II 


PLANTS AND ANIMALS RELATED TO HEALTH 

Bacteria.—Bacteria are also called microbes or germs. 
There are hundreds of kinds of bacteria and all are so 
small that a million together would not make a mass so 
large as the head of a pin. They are of various shapes. 
Most of them are straight, curved, or twisted rods. Some 
have the form of a ball. 

Bacteria occur nearly everywhere. A bit of dirt as 
large as a pea may contain a million bacteria, and a hundred 
thousand of them are commonly present in a cup of water. 
More than a million bacteria are lodged on the surface 
of the body and billions dwell in the mouth and 
intestine. 

Many kinds of bacteria are useful, but a few kinds some¬ 
times cause serious disease when they grow in other plants, 
or in the bodies of animals or man. 

Nature of Bacteria.—A hundred years ago many people 
thought that dead matter could of itself change into living 
plants or animals. When meat broth is put away in the 
cupboard for a day or two, the microscope shows it to be 
full of tiny forms of life. It is now known that this 
life does not start from the broth, but consists of 

13 


14 PLANTS AND ANIMALS RP^LATED TO HEALTH 



bacteria. They are constantly floating through the 
air and can be kept out of food by placing it in air¬ 
tight jars. The food and the 
jars must first be boiled to 
kill the bacteria in them. 
The spoiling or souring of 
food of any kind is generally 
due to bacteria. 

Need of Bacteria.—Experi¬ 
ment shows that higher life 
depends upon the help of 
bacteria. The dead leaves, 
grass, fallen trees and the 
waste matter of the barnyard 
cannot rot or decay without the aid of bacteria. If these 
little plants were destroyed, the surface of the earth would 
soon become cov¬ 
ered with dead 
matter. 

These ever-pres- 
ent bacteria 
change the dead 
plants and animals 


Fig. 2. —Harmless bacteria so 
numerous in drinking water 
that a person often takes a 
half-million into his stomach 
daily. Much enlarged. 



products of life 
into a food which 


matter into food for the grass, wheat and 
corn. Much enlarged. 


the new plants can use the next season. Some bac¬ 
teria feed upon living animals instead of dead matter. 
It is these that cause disease. 

Bacteria of Disease.—Fifty million persons are every 





PLANTS AND ANIMALS RELATED TO HEALTH 15 


year forced to the sick bed in this country and Europe by 
bacteria. Each disease is caused by a certain kind of 
germs and if these are kept out of the body, the sickness 
cannot occur. 

Some of the common diseases resulting from bacteria 
are pneumonia, measles, typhoid fever, diphtheria, sore throat, 



sore throat diphtheria sleeping sickness 


# 

# # # # 

boils 





leprosy 


grippe 



malaria 


PiQ. 4.—The germs causing various diseases. Much enlarged. 


grippe and tuberculosis. When the germs of these diseases 
get into the body, they devour the tissues and give off 
poisons. 

How Bacteria get into the Body.—^Bacteria nearly always 
enter the body through the mouth. The germs of typhoid 
fever generally reach the system with water which has 
received the waste matter from a typhoid patient. The 
bacteria of pneumonia, sore throat, diphtheria and grippe 
are frequently received from the drinking cup, pencils oi 


16 PLANTS AND ANIMALS RELATED TO HEALTH 


other objects used by persons recently recovered from 
these diseases. The germs are sometimes breathed in 
with dust. The bacteria of tuberculosis reach the body 
with air or food or are scraped from the drinking cup or 
other objects used by the sick. 

If nurses and patients would be careful to destroy with 
boiling water or formalin the germs which leave the bodies 
of the sick in the spit and other excretions, there would 
be fewer bacteria to make people sick. 

How Bacteria grow.—When supplied with food and kept 
warm, bacteria grow very rapidly. Cold makes them grow 
more slowly. One plant produces two new ones by separa¬ 
ting in the middle. This can occur every fifteen minutes so 

that one germ can pro- 
duce millions in a single 

Fig. 5.—Drawing of a germ at inter- day. 

vals of ten minutes while growing. i . , 

In some bacteria de¬ 
prived of food and moisture, the contents of the plant col¬ 
lect in one part and become surrounded by a tough coat. 
This part with its coat is a spore. Boiling water will kill 
most spores in less than ten minutes. Our 
common disease bacteria do not have spores 
and therefore they are killed by being boiled 
one minute. 

Mold.—Mold belongs to the group of plants 
known as fungi. They have no light green 
coloring matter in them and cannot feed on the air as 
plants with green leaves do. 

Mold often forms white or greenish patches on bread 
or fruit in a damp cellar. It is made of fine threads from 


Fig. 6.—Bac¬ 
teria. The 
white bodies 
are spores. 


PLANTS AND ANIMALS RELATED TO HEALTH 17 



Fig. 7. —Bread mold much enlarged. Note 
the tiny spores bursting from their case 
in the right upper corner. 


which other hairlike branches stick, up into the air. 

These branches bear on their ends little knobs contain¬ 

ing dozens of tiny 
balls called spores. 

These spores break 
loose and float about 
in the dust. When 
they fall upon moist 
food they sprout and 
grow into a patch 

of mold. The spores 
are hard to kill but 
eight minutes in boil¬ 
ing water will usually 
cause their death. 

Some kinds of mold grow on the body and cause disease. 
Barber's itch and ringworm are caused by molds growing in 
the skin. The spores are carried from one face to another by 
an uncleaned razor, towel, or brush. Other diseases are 
sometimes caught by using soiled 
towels in public places. 

Animal Parasites.—Any plant or 
animal which feeds upon another 
living plant or animal without at 
once destroying it, is a parasite. 

The bacteria of disease are all para¬ 
sites. Some animals live in the human body and produce 
disease. Yellow fever, sleeping sickness, and malaria are 
caused by tiny animals which get into the body by the 
bite of a fly or mosquito. The plague which has killed 



Fig. 8.—A flea which car¬ 
ries the germs of plague 
from the sick to the 
well. 


DAY. PHTS. INT.-2 




18 


PLANTS AND ANIMALS RELATED TO HEALTH 


millions of people in Asia and some in our own country is 
caused by bacteria, but the germs are usually put beneath the 
skin by the bite of bugs or fleas which have been sucking 
blood from sick persons or from rats. 

The Itch Mite and Head Lice.—The itch was once a very 
common disease. When it was discovered that a little 
spider living in the skin was the cause of the continuous 


itching, a way of killing it 
was soon found (Fig. 9). 
The disease is now easily 
cured by an ointment 
which any physician can 
supply. 



Tiny six-legged insects 
called head lice some¬ 
times live among the 
hair. They cause con¬ 
tinuous itching and sleep¬ 
lessness. They are easily 
killed by thoroughly rub¬ 
bing the scalp with equal 
^ parts of olive oil and coal 
oil before going to bed. 


Fig. 9.—The tiny spider which causes 
the itch when living in the skin. Much 
enlarged. 


The hair should then be kept from soiling the linen by wrap¬ 
ping a towel about the head. In the morning the head 
should be washed with soap and equal parts of vinegar and 
hot water to remove the tiny white eggs clinging to the hair. 
This treatment should be given two or three times. 

Worms. —Small worms also may be parasites in the human 
body. There are various kinds like the tapeworm and 








PLANTS AND ANIMALS RELATED TO HEALTH 


19 



roundworm, but the most important is the hookworm. This 
is found in the ground in the southern states, and enters 
through the skin when 
a person goes barefoot. 

The parasite finally 
reaches the intestine and 
so weakens the individual 
that he loses all energy, 
becomes shiftless, ane¬ 
mic, and dull. A doctor 
can give drugs which will 
expel the worms and 
bring about complete re¬ 
covery. 

Overcoming the Para¬ 
sites. —Owing to the 
fact that many sick per¬ 
sons through carelessness 
let disease germs escape 
from their bodies, every¬ 
body is likely to get some 
of these enemies into his 
body. The studies of physiology and hygiene have shown 
that persons may prevent many of them from entering the 
body or even from growing after they are in the body. 
Prevention of the sickness which they cause, as well as of 
other kinds of sickness, depends much upon understanding 
the plan of the body, the care and use of food, and the 
care and use of the organs as explained in the following 
chapters. 


Fig. 10.—The boy at the left is a victim 
of the hookworm disease. He is 21 
years old and weighs 65 pounds. The 
other boy is not infected. He is 10 
years old and weighs 63 pounds. 




20 


PLANTS AND ANIMALS RELATED TO HEALTH 


Practical Questions 

1. Give two other names for bacteria. 2. What is the form of 
bacteria? 3. Where are bacteria found? 4. When may bacteria 
be harmful? 5. How may bacteria be kept away from food? 6. Of 
what use are some bacteria? 7. State a fact showing that bacteria 
cause much sickness. 8. Name some diseases due to bacteria. 

9. How do tlie germs of typhoid fever often get into the body? 

10. State how the bacteria of other diseases may enter the body. 

11. What should nurses and patients do to prevent sickness in 
other persons? 12. Describe how bacteria grow. 13. What is a 
spore? 14. Why are some bacteria harder to kill than others? 
15. Describe mold. 16. What kinds of mold cause disease? 
17. What is a parasite? 18. Name some diseases caused by tiny 
animals living in the body. 19. WTiy should one having itch not 
sit near or handle things to be used by other persons? 20. Why 
should one with head lice not use another, person’s brush or hat? 
21. How is the hookworm disease contracted? 22. How can we 
prevent sickness from parasites? 

Suggestions for the Teacher 

The presence of mold germs in dust may easily be shown in the 
following manner: Rub a piece of bread across one board of a dusty 
floor and then lay it soiled-side up in a saucer containing two table¬ 
spoonfuls of water. Cover with a bowl and let it remain in a warm 
place from three to six days. The white threads of mold may then 
be seen and on the ends of the upright branches are tiny balls 
each containing a hundred or more spores. 


CHAPTER III 


THE PLAN OF THE HUMAN BODT 


Nature of Living Things.—Liv¬ 
ing plants and animals differ 
from all dead objects such as 
iron and stone by being able to 
take food and change it so as to 
form a part of their own bodies. 
The corn plant takes in some of 
its food through the leaves and 
some through the roots. In some 
of the worms and other lower ani¬ 
mals, the food in a watery state 
passes directly through the skin 
into the body. Most animals, 
however, have a special open¬ 
ing called the mouth for the pur¬ 
pose of receiving food, and a sac 
or canal in which the food is 
changed to a liquid. Then there 
are tubes for taking the food to 
all parts of the body and for car¬ 
rying off the waste matter. 

Special structures are provided 
for moving the body, and there 
are still other structures called 
nerves to make all parts of the 
body work in proper order. 
These several duties such as 

21 



Fig. 11.—The chief organs of 
the body from the side, o, 
arch of the aorta or main 
artery of the trunk; c, large 
intestine; d, diaphragm; e, 
throat; g, lung; k, kidney; 
I, spinal cord within the 
back bone; m, main artery 
dividing to go to the legs; 
n, pancreas; o, gullet; 4, 
spleen; tr, wind pipe; f,main 
vein of body; ap, appendix. 





22 


THE PLAN OF THE HUMAN BODY 


preparing food, carrying it about in the body and 
moving the body, are performed by separate portions of 
the human body, which are named systems. 

The Systems.— We shall study seven systems forming 
the human body. The framework or hony system is for 
support and movement. The lean meat makes up much 
of the muscular system used in moving the bones. The 
mouth, stomach, intestine and whatever else helps to 
prepare the food for use form the digestive system. The 
blood tubes, conveying the food from the intestine to 
all parts of the body and carrying off the waste matter, 
constitute the hlood system. 



Fig. 12.—Slice of the wall of the gullet 
enlarged to show nature of tissues. 


The breathing system con¬ 
sists of the lungs and other 
parts used in supplying the 
body with air. The skin 
and kidneys taking the 
waste matter out of the 
blood belong to the sewer 
system. The brain and 
nerves form the nervous 
system which directs the ac¬ 
tions of all parts of the 
body. 

The Parts of a System. 

—Each system is com¬ 
posed of several parts called 
organs. Each organ has a 
certain work to do in 
helping the body to keep 









THE PLAN OF THE HUMAN BODY 


23 


well and perform the duties of life. The heart is the 
organ for sending the blood through the body, the stomach 
is an organ for digesting food, and a lung is an organ for 
breathing. 

Nature of an Organ.—The organs when examined with 
a microscope enlarging their parts are seen to be made of 
several different substances. Each of these is called a 
tissue. The stomach, is lined with one kind of tissue wnile 
its outer part is made of muscular tissue (Fig. 12.) 
Among these two is a nervous tissue, and the three are 
bound together by a connective tissue made mostly of fine 
threads. 

Parts of a Tissue. 

—The microscope 
shows that the tis¬ 
sues are made of 
cells mingled with 
fine threads or 
other substance. A 
cell is a tiny mass of 
matter containing a 
smaller particle of 
matter called the nucleus. Usually each cell is surrounded 
by a thin membrane, the cell wall (Fig. 13). 

The form of cells varies widely. The fat cells are like 
little balls while the muscle cells are rodlike. The nerve 
cells are very irregular with branching processes. Some of 
the cells such as those on the surface of the skin are flat 
like the scales of a fish and others in the intestine are 
shaped like tiny corks. 






24 


THE PLAN OF THE HUMAN BODY 


Character of Cells.—All plants and animals are composed 
of one or more cells united by threadlike fibers, or by other 
matter. Each of many plants and animals living in dirty 



Fig. 14.—Various kinds of cells many times enlarged, n, from the 
brain; /, fat cell; m, muscle; e, surface of skin. 


water is made of 
a single cell. They 
require food and 
air just the same 
as the cells of the 
body and also give 
off waste matter. 
After growing to 
a certain size, 
these animals 

Fig. 15 .—A water snake which has just divide in the mid¬ 
shed its outer skin. die and each half 

swims away as a new animal to repeat the process the 
next day. In the same way new cells are formed in the 
body, but instead of moving apart they stick fast together. 

Dying Parts of the Body.—Dead cells can be scraped 
from the sldn at any time. Some animals such as frogs 







THE PLAN OF THE HUMAN BODY 


25 


and snakes shed the entire dead outer skin in one piece 
several times each year. The cells beneath divide and 
thus form other cells for a new skin. 

The cells within the deep parts of the body remain m 
place year after year, but tiny bits of them are dying con¬ 
stantly and passing out in the breath, the sweat and in 
other ways. These dead bits are burned to ashes in the 
body in much the same way that a match burns. The 
burning of anything means the union with it of a part of the 
air called oxygen. 

Burning or Oxidation.—The union of oxygen with any 
other substance 
is oxidation. The 
head of a match 
is scratched to 
make it hot enough 
to cause the oxygen 
of the air to unite 
with it. 

The living action of the cells in the body makes the 
oxygen there unite with the dead particles and burn them 
into ashes so that they can be carried out of the body 
through the lungs and kidneys, and not clog the organs. 
This burning or oxidation of the dead parts of the cells, 
and of the food brought there by the blood, goes on very 
slowly so there is no flame but enough heat to keep the 
body warm. By experiment, it has been found that the 
oxidation of an ounce of fat within the body furnishes just 
the same amount of heat as the burning of an ounce of fat 
produces when burned outside of the body. 





26 


THE PLAN OF THE HUMAN BODY 


Practical Questions 

1 . How does dead matter differ from living things? 2. What 
animals do not have mouths? 3. What is a system in the body? 
4. Name some of the systems in the body. 5. Tell what three of 
the systems are used for. 6. What is an organ? 7. Name five 
organs in the body. 8. What is a tissue? 9. Tell how the cells 
differ. 10. How do cells grow? 11. How are the dying parts of 
the body cast off? 12. What is oxidation? 13. What makes 
oxidation occur in the body? 14. What results from oxidation 
in the body? 15. Where is oxygen burned in the body? 

Suggestions for the Teacher 

The fact that parts of the body are dying and are being cast off 
may be shown in the following manner: Secure two or three frogs, 
or salamanders found in ponds or under stones near streams and 
place them in a jar containing a half inch of water. Generally with¬ 
in a week, large strips of shed skin may be seen floating in the water. 
The shed skins of caterpillars or other insects may often be found 
sticking to stones or trees. Any caterpillar confined in a box and 
fed for a few days with the leaves of the plant on which it was 
found will shed its skin. 


CHAPTER IV 


FOOD FOR THE BODY 

Need of Food.—The body consists of about twelve gallons 
of water; twelve pounds of mineral matter such as table 
salt, potash, lime and iron; twelve pounds of fat; and 
twenty-four pounds 
of proteid. Proteid 
forms a portion of 
every cell in the 
body. A common 
form of proteid is 
albumin like the 
white of egg. Since mineral matter such as lime, 

\ , salt and potash left from burning the piece 

parts of the body of meat, a. 

made of these sub¬ 
stances are dying daily and passing away, such food must 
be taken as will restore the loss. 

Food is also required for fuel to be burned to keep the 
body warm, and to supply energy to make it move and 
enable the organs to do their work. A steam locomotive 
cannot pull cars without burning coal. For the same 
reason, the arm or leg cannot be moved without some 
thing being burned in the body. 

Kinds of Food.—The two gener&l groups of foods are 

the flesh foods and the fuel foods. The flesh foods are 

27 










28 


FOOD FOR THE BODY 


the proteids. These form a large part of lean meat, of 
dried peas and beans, and of wheat flour. They help 
build up bone, blood, and flesh. 

The/iie^ foods consist of sugars, starches, and fats. These 
are used to give energy for work and to keep the body 

warm. The sugar 
used on the table 
i s made largely 
from beets and 
from sugar cane. 
Milk sugar is pres¬ 
ent in milk, and 
fruit sugar makes 
the ripe fruit sweet. 
Starch is found 
mainly in such vege- 
Fig. 18.—A tiny slice of potato to show the tables as COrn 
starch grains. Much enlarged. . , , 

rice, wheat, and 

potatoes, where it appears in the form of little grains (Fig. 

18 ). 

Fats make up most of the fat meat, form a large part of 
the cream of milk and about nine tenths of butter. The 
fat of beef is called tallow and that from pork is known as 
lard. A fat which is liquid at room temperature is spoken 
of as oil. Cottonseed oil, castor oil and olive oil are de¬ 
rived from plants. 

Quantity of Food Required.—Careful experiments lately 
made have shown that most people eat too much. No 
matter how much food is eaten, only that part of it re¬ 
quired by the body for replacing worn-out material and 





FOOD FOR THE BODY 


29 


furnishing fuel will be used. The extra amount eaten is 
likely to cause sickness by clogging the organs or by help¬ 
ing bacteria to develop in the food canal and to give off 
poisons. These produce headache and other kinds of 
illness called indigestion or dyspepsia. 

Cost of Food.—Many foods contain much water and 
have a pleasant taste but there is very little solid matter 
present to form flesh or to supply fuel to the body. Water 



Fig. 19.—Each of these three groups of food will give the body the 
same nourishment, but that at the left costs five times as much as 
that at the right. 


melons, cucumbers, oysters, lobsters, bananas, cabbages 
and apples are expensive foods as they contain little nourish¬ 
ment. 

Wheat flour, corn meal, and potatoes are cheap foods. 
They are rich in flesh and fuel making power. Ten cents^ 
worth of corn meal will furnish as much nourishment as 




30 


FOOD FOR THE BODY 


two dollars worth of oysters. A dime spent for stewing 
beef will secure more food value than twenty-five cents spent 
for sirloin steak. 

Economy in Bu3ring.—Good food can be secured for a 
comparatively small amount of money if the housekeeper is 
careful to purchase what contains the most nourishment for 
the least cost. 

The daily fare for a family of five persons might be, 
for example, wheat bread, com meal mush, beef stew, 
small dried beans, potatoes, oatmeal, and two quarts of 
milk, with a little of the cheapest fruit and green vege¬ 
tables in season. These foods are not expensive and are 
very nourishing. 

Meats.—The eating of large quantities of meat is respon¬ 
sible for much ill health. Intemperance in the use of meat 
and alcohol is one of the important causes of disease of the 
kidneys. 

Those who live much indoors should not use pork or 
fried meats more than once or twice weekly. Baked fish 
and roasted or boiled beef or mutton should be eaten only 
once daily by those taking little exercise. 

The same nourishment supplied by meats may be pur¬ 
chased for less money spent for eggs, milk, and vegetables. 
Sirloin, round, and rump steaks are expensive cuts and 
furnish but little more nourishment than chuck or brisket 
costing one third as much. 

Eggs.—Eggs contain much substance for the making of 
fiesh and also a considerable amount of fat. They form 
an excellent food especially for invalids, and children over 
nine months old. ^ They are most easily digested when 


FOOD FOR THE BODY 


31 


beaten raw in a glass of milk. Soft-boiled eggs are also 
easily digested. 

One dozen eggs furnish about the same amount of nourish¬ 
ment as a pound of beef sirloin. 

Milk.—The one food of more importance than any other 
for man’s welfare is milk. Seven eighths of it consists of 
water, but the other eighth contains all 
the elements needed for the body. Any 
one can live for years upon milk alone, 
but for adults it is more useful when 
taken with other foods. 

Milk is easily digested and is, therefore, 
an excellent food for children and in¬ 
valids. It contains much mineral matter 
for making bones and is rich in other sub¬ 
stances needed to form flesh and blood. 

Three or four glasses of milk may be used 
daily by most children with marked 
benefit. It should not be swallowed 
rapidly like water, but taken slowly in sips. When taken 
cold it may not agree with some persons. It should then be 
sipped slowly while very hot. In heating it do not let it boil. 

Boiled milk should not be used regularly unless a physi¬ 
cian directs it. One or two quarts of clean milk taken daily 
is a great help both in preventing and curing tuberculosis. 

Two quarts of milk would supply the body with about the 
same amount of nourishment as one pound of sirloin steak or 
one third of a pound of butter. 

Skim Milk, Cream, and Butter.—The fatty part of milk 
is in the form of tiny balls which rise to the surface when 



of milk showing 
of what it is 
made. Proteid is 
the flesh-building 
food. 





32 


FOOD FOR THE BODY 


milk is left standing several hours. This collection of 
fat balls or globules with the milk surrounding them ia 



Fig. 21.—Tiny balls of fat in Holstein milk at the left and Jersey milk 
at the right. Much enlarged. 

called cream. When the cream is poured away or dipped 
off, the remaining bluish white fluid is known as skim milk. 

By dashing the whole milk or only the cream about in a 
closed box or barrel, called a churn, the globules of fat are 
broken up and made to collect in yellow 
masses forming butter. It requires about 
three gallons of milk to make one pound 
of butter. 

The milk from which the butter has been 
removed by churning is called buttermilk. It 
often has a sour taste due to the work of 
bacteria which changed the sugar of the sweet 
milk into an acid. Buttermilk is a healthful 
drink and aids digestion. Both buttermilk and skim milk 
are valuable foods. Two quarts of either of them will 
furnish nearly as much nourishment to the body as a 
pound of beef steak. 

Soups.—Soups are made by placing vegetables or meats 


Fig . 22 .— 
The bacte¬ 
ria which 
cause milk 
to sour. 
Much en¬ 
larged. 


FOOD FOR THE BODY 


33 


in cold water which is then gradually heated to near the 
boiling point. This temperature is maintained from a 
half hour to several hours, so as to dissolve out as much 
nourishment as possible from the solid parts. 

Soups do not contain much nourishment but are useful 
at the beginning of a meal to start the flow of the digestive 
juices, and thus prepare for the real food to be eaten later. 
They also prevent one when very hungry from overeating, 
as they give the desired feeling of fulness without the 
presence of much solid matter. 

Vegetable Foods.—Many vegetable foods contain a 
large amount of nourishment. Bread, corn meal, oat¬ 
meal, rice, potatoes, peas and beans have a large food 
value. They are also cheap foods and when well chewed 
are healthful. Ten cents^ worth of oatmeal will yield 
more food for the body than forty cents’ worth of beef¬ 
steak. Ten cents spent for small white dried beans will 
purchase more food for the body than fifty cents spent for 
smoked ham. 

The common breakfast foods made from the cereals, 
wheat, corn, and oats, are healthful and nourishing, but 
more expensive than hominy, oatmeal or corn meal. 

Turnips, cabbage, beets, lettuce and cauliflower, radishes, 
onions and asparagus contain much water and but little 
nourishment. They are useful in increasing the action 
of the digestive organs, and in supplying mineral matter. 
Their pleasing taste also gives a better appetite. Many 
headaches and other pains, such as those from rheumatism, 
may sometimes be avoided by refusing meats and using 
certain vegetables. 

DAV. PHYS. INT.—3 


34 


FOOD FOR THE BODY 


Fruits.—The fruits contain very little nourishment but 
furnish minerals and hasten the action of the digestive 
organs. Partly decayed or unripe fruit should never be 
used as it may cause serious sickness. Fruits may be eaten 
either raw or cooked. Before eating the larger fruits, the 
peel or outside skin which may bear bacteria and dirt should 
be removed. 

Why Alcohol should not be used as Food.—Some scien¬ 
tists believe that alcohol, as found in beer or whisky, may 
be used by the body for food. Most scientific men, how¬ 
ever, do not consider alcohol worthy of being called a food 
because it cannot be used day after day without hurting 
some of the organs in the body. In some cases it may 
furnish energy for work during a short period. It may 
also arouse and excite certain organs to do more work 
for a very short time, but soon these same organs, as a 
result of the unnatural urging, work much slower than 
usual. 

Why Alcohol is not a complete Food.—Alcohol is not a 
complete food in any form, because it cannot build up mus¬ 
cle, blood, bone, or any other tissue in the body. A person 
fed plenty of alcohol and nothing else will starve to death. 

Some persons think alcohol is a food because they do 
not feel hungry after taking a drink. It lessens the desire 
for real food only by deadening the nerves which tell of 
the true need of food. Ale and beer contain a little food 
because they have in them some sugar and other sub¬ 
stances. The great chemist Liebig said: Nine quarts ol 
the best ale contain as much nourishment as would lie or 
the end of a table knife.^' 


FOOD FOR THE BODY 


'6b 


Practical Questions 

1 . Of what does the body consist ? 2. Why does the body need 
food? 3. Name the two groups of foods. 4. In what foods does 
sugar occur? 5. Where is starch found? 6. In what food is fat 
present? 7. What is an oil? 8. Why is it harmful to eat more 
than the body needs? 9. What is dyspepsia? 10. Name some 
expensive foods. 11. Name some cheap foods. 12. What can 
you say of the use of meat? 13. Which cuts of meat are cheapest? 
14. Tell what you know about the value of eggs for food. 15. Of 
what does milk consist? 16. What can you say of milk as a food? 
17. Compare the value of milk with beefsteak. 18. How does 
skim milk differ from cream? 19. How is butter made? 20. How 
are soups made? 21. Of what use are soups? 22. What can you 
say of the value of vegetables for food? 23. How may headaches 
and rheumatism often be avoided? 24. Of what use are fruits? 
25. Why should alcohol not be used as a food? 26. Why is alcohol 
not a complete food? 27. Why do some persons think alcohol 
is a food? 


Suggestions for the Teacher 

The teacher may impress upon the minds of the pupils the facts 
taught in this chapter by talking about the foods which they use at 
the different meals. In many cases the pupils will be found to be 
using foods giving too little real nourishment and to be spoiling the 
appetite by the frequent use of candies. The work in the school 
should be made a help in the home. 


CHAPTER V 


THE CARE AND COOKING OF FOOD 

Preventing Waste. —In many households, a considerable 
amount of food is wasted because of poor cooking, or 
because it is allowed to spoil. Every house should be 
provided with a cool cellar or a refrigerator to prevent 
molds and bacteria from spoiling such food as meat, milk 
and cooked vegetables. Cold prevents largely the growth 
of such plants. 

Much of the food remaining from a meal may, if kept 
cool, be fixed over into appetizing dishes for another day. 
Inquiries lately made among many families by the Govern¬ 
ment officers show that over one hundred million dollars 
worth of food is wasted annually in the United 
States. 

Milk. —^This requires more care than any other food. 
One of the chief causes of sickness and death among young 
children is bad milk. More than twice as many people 
die from dirty milk as from old age. Milk is made bad 
or sour by bacteria getting into it. 

Milk drawn by clean hands into scalded tin or agate 
pails from clean cows kept in clean stables will contain 
very few bacteria. These will grow but little during the 
next three days, if the milk is cooled at once and placed in 
tight jars in a cold cellar or spring house. Milk should 
36 


THE CARE AND COOKING OF FOOD 


37 


not be left in an open vessel as it absorbs odors and re¬ 
ceives many bacteria always floating in the air. 

How Milk May Cause Sickness.—Those who are sick or 
are just recovering from illness, should not handle milk, 
which is to be used by others. The bacteria which 
cause typhoid fever, scarlet fever, tonsilitis and diph¬ 
theria, grow very rapidly when they get into milk. 
Every year hundreds of people catch these diseases 
from using milk receiving bacteria from sick persons 
who have handled the milk. Any one who nurses 
the sick may carry disease germs from them to the milk 
vessels, or these may get the germs from being washed in 
impure water. 

Cleaning Milk Vessels.—Many babies are killed every 
year by their own sisters or mothers who are careless in 
neglecting to clean properly the nursing bottle or other 
vessels. Cholera infantum and other similar sickness in 
babies usually results from unclean milk. A rubber tube 
must never be used in a nursing bottle because it cannot be 
cleaned. The nursing bottle and the nipple which slips 
over its wide mouth should be brushed thoroughly in cold 
water immediately after use. The bottle may then be 
washed with hot water and soap, and the nipple left until 
needed in a cup of water containing a pinch of sal soda. 
It must be rinsed before use. 

Milk should always be delivered in sealed glass bottles, 
to prevent the entrance of dirt and bacteria which are 
blown about in the dusty streets when the milk is being 
handled. A vessel after being used for milk should be 
cleaned immediately by rinsing well in cold water and then 


38 


THE CARE AND COOKING OF FOOD 


washing in hot water with soap or washing soda. If pos¬ 
sible, it should then be placed for a few minutes in boiling 
water or steam. 

Preventing Sickness from Unclean Milk.—Sometimes it 
is necessary to use milk which is not known to come from 
healthy cows in a clean dairy. Children may get tuber¬ 
culosis from the use of milk given by cows having this 
disease. It is therefore wise when there is a probability 
that the milk is impure to heat it very hot for twenty 
minutes without boiling it. This is called 'pasteurizing it. 
It is easily done by placing a jar or pan of milk into another 
larger pan of water which is kept steaming the required time. 
After heating, it should be quickly cooled and used within 
twenty-four hours. While being heated and cooled, the 
milk should be stirred to hasten the process. 

Meats.—One should never use chicken or other meats 
which have been in cold storage for several weeks. Canned 
meat or any other meat which has an unpleasant odor is 











THE CARE AND COOKING OF FOOD 


39 


likely to cause sickness because bacteria have grown in it 
and produced a poison. In warm weather, meat will 
remain good only one or two days in a cool cellar but if 
placed on ice it may be kept longer. 

Roasted, broiled or stewed meats are more healthful 
than fried meats. Some cuts of meat are much more 
tender than others. Tender cuts such as round, sirloin 
and rump steaks and ribroast may be broiled or roasted. 
The tougher parts such as shoulder, chuck, brisket and 
belly, should be cooked in water in order to make them 
tender. 

The water should be at the boiling point when the 
meat is placed in it so that the albumin of the outer part 
of the meat will be hardened and thus prevent the escape 
of the juices. After ten minutes’ boiling, less heat should 
be used so that the water scarcely bubbles. This plan of 
cooking makes tough meat tender and nourishing. 

Vegetables.— Potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets, onions, 
and cabbage may be kept in good condition for several 
weeks or even months in a cool cellar. Celery, tomatoes, 
and peas and beans in the pod will remain fresh only a day 
or two unless put in the refrigerator. 

Most vegetables may be cooked in boiling water in from 
thirty to sixty minutes, but string beans and some beets 
often require three or four hours. To make the food as 
pleasing as possible, it is well to cook the vegetables often 
used, in a variety of ways. Potatoes may be baked in the 
oven with the skins on; pared, sliced raw and fried; boiled 
and served whole; or boiled and mashed with cream. 

Fruits.—With the exception of winter pears and apples. 


40 


THE CARE AND COOKING OF FOOD 


which will keep well several months in a cold room, most of 
the fruits spoil soon after being picked. Ripe berries and 
cherries will not remain good longer than one or two days 
after being gathered. The spoiling is always caused by 
molds or bacteria. 

The careful housekeeper may preserve many of the 
fruits such as cherries, peaches, plums and berries by dry¬ 
ing them several days in the sun or a few hours in the oven. 
Bacteria and mold need moisture for growth. These 
germs may also be prevented from growing by adding to 
the fruit an equal quantity of sugar while it is being cooked. 
Such food is known as preserves. Only a spoonful or two 
of such rich food should be eaten at one meal. 

The best plan for saving fruit after cleaning it, is to place 
it in scalded glass jars with rubber rings and with the 
covers on loose. The germs are then killed by placing 
the jars in a hot oven a half hour, or more, after which 
they are tightly closed. 

Planning the Meals.—One of the most important duties 
in the home is to provide the proper amount and kind of 
food for each meal. The list should always include foods 
that will form flesh and blood, and starch fats or sugars 
for fuel. A person fed only on fats, starches, and sugars, 
will starve because they do not make muscle and bone 
but give only heat and energy. 

Bread, milk, lean meat, eggs, peas and beans are flesh¬ 
building foods. Potatoes, sugar, rice, corn and fat meat 
will help the muscles do hard work and keep the body 
warm. People in cold weather like to eat fat meat 
because it keeps them warm. 


THE CARE AND COOKING OF FOOD 


41 


Practical Questions 

1. How may molds and bacteria be prevented from spoiling 
food? 2. What makes milk sour? 3. What care should be taken 
with milk? 4. Why should those just recovering from illness not 
handle milk to be used by other persons? 5. Describe how the 
baby’s bottle should be cleaned. 6. How should any milk vessel 
be cleaned? 7. How is milk pasteurized? 8. What kind of milk 
should be pasteurized? 9. Why do canned meats sometimes cause 
sickness? 10. What is the most healthful way of cooking meats? 
11. How may fruits be preserved? 12. For what two uses in the 
body should every meal furnish food? 13. Name the foods which 
would make a satisfying dinner at small cost. 14. Name some 
foods for breakfast which supply proper nourishment. 15. Why 
do we need more potatoes and fat meat in winter than in sum¬ 
mer? 16. Why do bread and milk form a good supper? 

Suggestions for the Teacher 

The facts in this chapter may be emphasized by a valuable lesson 
in English in which each pupil is asked to describe how three or four 
of the common foods are cared for and cooked in the home. The in¬ 
formation given by the pupils in their written papers will show that 
while some food is spoiled by improper care, much more is practically 
spoiled or made impalatable by the wrong method of cooking. 
Suggestions made in the class will often be put into practical use in 
the home. 


CHAPTER VI 


HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


The Organs of Digestion.—In order that food may 
support life, it must get into the blood and be carried to all 

parts of the body. 
It cannot enter the 
blood until it has 
been changed into a 
special souplike liq¬ 
uid. The process of 
making this liquid is 
called digestion. The 
organs used for this 
purpose form the di¬ 
gestive system. This 
consists of a tube 
over thirty feet long, 
called the alimentary 
canal, and other or- 

Fig. 24.—Diagram to show the working named glands, 

parts of a gland, v and a are blood 
tubes with thin-walled branches around 
the parts of the gland c. These take 
material from the blood and, after chang¬ 
ing it, send it to the mouth, stomach or tube Or collection of 
other places through the duett. branching tubes 



Nature of a Gland. 
—A gland is a tiny 
straight or coiled 


42 








HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 43 

formed of cells (Fig. 24). A gland is able to take certain 
materials from the blood and manufacture them into a 
fluid useful to the body. The sweat moistening the skin 
and the fluid collecting in the mouth are formed by glands. 
The liver is the largest gland in the body and near to it is 
a small gland called the 'pancreas. The liquid formed by 
a gland is known as 
its secretion. The 
channel through 
which the secretion 
flows out is named 
the duct. 

The Alimentary 
Canal.—The cavity 
within the trunk 
contains the greater 
part of the alimen¬ 
tary canal which is a 
tube for the diges¬ 
tion of the food. 

The trunk cavity is 

separated into two 

, , ,, . , , Fig. 25.—Organs in the body cavity viewed 

parts by a thm plate front. 

of tissue, known 

as the diaphragm. The upper part, containing the heart, 
gullet and lungs, is the cavity of the thorax. The lower 
part, holding the stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas, 
spleen and other organs, is the cavity of the abdomen. 

The alimentary canal consists of the mouthy pharynx or 
throatj esophagus or gullet^ the stomach and intestines. The 





44 HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 

wall of the canal is made mostly of muscle, lined with a 
skinlike membrane which forms in addition to some 
digestive juices, a slippery fluid called mucus. This lining 
is therefore spoken of as mucous membrane. 

Mucous membrane lines part of the cavity of the eai 
and nose, and all other channels in the body which the 
air touches. Mucus has the power to kill many harmful 
bacteria and it thus protects the body from disease. 

Mouth Digestion.— 
The fluid which moist¬ 
ens the food in the 
mouth is called saliva. 
A quart of it is formed 
daily by three salivary 
glands. One of these 
glands lies below the 
ear, one is on the side 
of the tongue and an¬ 
other is under the 
tongue. Their se¬ 
cretion is brought to the 
mouth by ducts. 

The chewing of food 
causes the saliva to 
flow. The mixing of the food with the saliva increases 
the taste. The pleasing taste or odor of food makes the 
digestive juices flow into the stomach. The more food 
is chewed the better it will be digested in the stomach, 
because it will be in fine particles and there will be 
plenty of juice to act on them. Some of the starch of 



Fig. 26.—The salivary glands, pa, su, 
and si; t, tongue; d, ducts opening 
into mouth. 


HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


45 


food is changed to sugar by the saliva. This is why dry 
bread tastes sweet after it has been chewed for some 
time. 

Importance of Thorough Chewing.—Every mouthful of 
food should be chewed more than a dozen times. Experi¬ 
ments lately carried out prove that two thirds of a pound 
of food eaten, if well chewed, will furnish about the same 
nourishment to the body as a pound chewed in the usual 
way. More than a half hour is required to eat a meal 
properly. Foods like nuts and bananas, which are difficult 
to digest, may be digested by almost anyone who will take 
time to chew them thoroughly. 

A very common cause of sickness known as indigestion 
or dyspepsia is swallowing food before it has been crushed 
into very fine particles. Headache and a pain in the 
region of the abdomen is usually the result of indigestion. 
Dizziness and even death may be due to imperfectly chewed 
food, which disturbs the action of the heart. To chew 
food thoroughly one should have good teeth. 

Why Chewing Tobacco is Harmful—When tobacco is 
chewed part of the poison in it is pressed out. This mixes 
with the juices in the mouth. The tender pink lining of 
the cheeks and tongue is full of tiny blood vessels. These 
drink in through their thin walls some of the tobacco 
poison and then it is carried by the blood tubes all over 
the body. 

The poison of the tobacco is taken into the body very 
quickly. This is shown by the experience of boys when 
they use this.harmful weed for the first time. A piece 
of tobacco as large a^ the thumb, if chewed only a few 


4b 


HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


minutes by a boy not used to the poison, will make 
him dizzy and cause headache and other sick feeling. 
Some of the chapters which follow show how tobacco 
hurts a growing body. The chewing of tobacco also 
causes a great waste of saliva needed to help digest 
the food. 

How Smoking Tobacco hurts the Mouth.—^The smoke of 
the burning cigar or cigarette contains poison. This may 
be shown by drawing the smoke through water in which a 
fish is placed. In a short time the fish will die. 

The blood vessels in the lining of the mouth take up 
some of the poison from the smoke. The blood then 
carries the poison to all parts of the body. Some of these 
are badly hurt by daily doses of poison. 

The heat and gases from the burning tobacco numb 
the organs of taste in the tongue and other parts of the 
mouth. A smoker cannot then enjoy delicious food so 
much as one whose mouth is in perfect health. 

How Alcoholic Drink affects the Mouth.—The organs of 
taste in the mouth are usually a safe guide in selecting 
food, but they may be injured by the use of alcohol. Few, 
if any, persons like beer or wine at first. These drinks, 
and also whisky and brandy, after daily use for sev¬ 
eral weeks, hurt the taste organs so that they are not 
satisfied with any other drink except that containing 
alcohol. 

The strong desire for beer and wine is much more quickly 
aroused in the young than in those past middle life. On 
this account it is more dangerous for a boy to take a drink 
of liquor occasionally than it is for a man. 


HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


47 




Fig. 27,—Teeth of the upper jaw at 
three years of age. c is the eye tooth. 


The Teeth. —The mouth is furnished with two sets of 
teeth during life. The first set is known as milk teeth. 
There are ten of these 
in each jaw. The eight 
front ones used in biting 
off the food, are shaped 
like chisels and are called 
incisors. No teeth are 
present at birth, but 
all the incisors appear 
during the first year 
of life. The other milk 
teeth break through the gums by the time the child is 
two years of age. The eight back teeth of the milk set, 

used in crushing the 
food, are the grind¬ 
ing teeth or molars. 

Between the sixth 
and twelfth years, 
the roots of the milk 
teeth are absorbed, 
so that they drop 
out or may be easily 
pulled. The per¬ 
manent teeth then 
grow into their 
places. In addition 
three permanent 


Fig. 28—Above are the milk teeth of the 
left half of the upper jaw. Below they 
are shown when the roots are absorbed 
and they are ready to be pulled. 


teeth appear in the back part of either half of each jaw. 
There are thirty-two permanent teeth. The first perma- 






48 


HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 



nent molars appear 
at six years of age, 
just behind the milk 
teeth. The back 
tooth on each side 
in both jaws is 
commonly called the 
wisdom tooth. It 
appears between the 
eighteenth and 
twenty-fifth year of 
age. 

Dogs, cats, horses 
and mice, all have 
two sets of teeth. Their teeth are shaped according to 
the work they have to do. The dog and cat, feeding on 


Fig. 29. —Right lower jaws of dog and man. 
Note how the teeth differ in shape. 



Fig. 30. —The permanent teeth of the right side. The numbers show 
at what age they appear; a, incisors; h, canines; c, premolars; d, 
molars. 








HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


49 


flesh, have sharp and cutting teeth, while the back teeth 
of the horse and cow have broad and flat grinding sur¬ 
faces, to crush the hay and corn. Since man’s back teeth 
arc shaped for grinding and not for cutting such food as 
flesh, wc ought to use much vegetable food. 

How the Teeth may be Ruined.—The outer part of the 
tooth is covered with a thin 
layer of hard shiny substance 
called enamel. This protects 
the inner bony part or dentine 
from bacteria which cause 
decay. Bits of sweets, or other 
food particles, clinging to the 
teeth after eating, make the 
bacteria grow rapidly and 
produce an acid. This may 
soften the enamel and thus let 
the acid and bacteria get to 
the bony part of the tooth, 
which then decays rapidly. 

For this reason a strong thread 
called dental floss, or a tooth jtjq —Section through a 
pick of quill, or of wood, tooth, a, crown; c, root; d, 

1 1 j u j X pulp of nerves and blood 

should be used to remove ^ , ,. . . 

tubes; e, dentine; /, enamel; 

the bits of food from between g, cement; h, perves and ves- 
the teeth after eating. 

The Care of the Teeth. —tooth brush and warm water 
should be used morning and night to clean thoroughly, both 
the inner and outer surfaces of the teeth. To clean the 
upper teeth the brush should be drawn from the gum 



DAV. PHT8. IWT.- 




50 


HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


downward. To clean the lower teeth the brush 
should be drawn from the gum upward. A little 
good tooth powder used on the brush once a day is 
helpful. 

The care of the teeth in childhood will prevent much pain 
and sickness in later years. The cracking of nuts, or the 
biting off of thread or the ends of the finger nails is hurtful 
to teeth, as the enamel is likely to be cracked. The teeth 
should be examined twice a year by a dentist, and any 
decayed places repaired. Even the milk teeth often 
need to be repaired. Decaying teeth make the mouth 
sore so that the food is not well chewed. The stomach may 
then become sick and other illness follow. The cavities 
in decaying teeth are breeding places for disease germs. 

Stomach Digestion. 
—After the food has 
been chewed it passes 
back to the 'pharynx 
and is then squeezed 
into the gullet named 
esophagus. This is a 
straight tube leading 
from the throat to the 
stomach. 

The stomach is a 
half-gallon sac, with an 
outer wall of muscle 
lined within by mucous 
membrane, made largely of gastric glands of which there 
are more than a million. These glands, each consisting 



Fig. 32.—The stomach showing the 
muscles which churn the food. E, 
where food enters; F, entrance into 
the intestine, D. 






HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


51 


of a tube with 
several branches, 
give out daily three 
quarts of gastric 
juice to dissolve the 
lean meat and other 
like foods. 

Gastric Juice.— 

The gastric juice is 
made to mix with 
the food by the 
action of the stom¬ 
ach muscles, which 
squeeze the con¬ 
tents back and 
forth. If the stom¬ 
ach is too full, there 
is no room for the 
food to move about 
and mix with the 
juices. Sickness called indigestion may be the result. 
The quickest relief is given by vomiting. 

Some persons do not have enough gastric juice to digest 
even a small quantity of food. They can nearly double the 
flow of gastric juice by chewing the food twice as long as 
usual. 

After remaining in the stomach from one to five hours, 
the food is like thick gravy and is called chyme. It is 
then pushed in small quantities through the gateway 
formed by a circular muscle, into the intestine. 



Fig. 33.—A tiny blgck out of the stomach 
wall, a; the mucous membrane; c and d, 
the muscles; h, gastric glands; m and n, 
blood tubes to the glands; e, mouths of 
glands within the stomach. 

























52 


HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 



The Intestines.—The S7mll 
intestine receives the food from 
the stomach. It is a coiled 
tube about twenty feet long 
(Fig. 34). It fills up much of 
the abdominal cavity and is 
held in place by a thin glis¬ 
tening membrane attached to 
the region of the backbone. 
The wall of the intestine is 
like that of the stomach. The 
outer part is of muscle and the 
lining is mucous membrane 
made largely of tiny, tubelike 


Fig. 34.—The stomach and in¬ 
testines; 1, stomach; 5, 7, 

8, 9, 10, 11, large intestine; 

3, small intestine; 4, en¬ 
trance of small intestine 
into large one; 12, spleen. 

glands. The mucous membrane is 
much wrinkled into cross folds, while 
over its whole surface stick out mil¬ 
lions of tiny fingerlike projections 
called villi (Fig. 36). 

A few inches below the stomach, 
ducts from the pancreas and liver 
empty into the intestine. The 


Fig. 35.—Piece of small 
intestine cut open to 
show wrinkling of 
inner coat bearing 
villi. 




















HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


53 


secretion of the pancreas is pancreatic juice, and that of 
the liver is hile. 

The large intestine receives the waste part of the food 
from the small intestine, and retains it a few hours until 
some of the water is absorbed. This waste matter should 
be expellea from the 
body at about the 
same time each day. 

Neglecting to do this, 
often causes serious 
illness. 

Intestinal Diges¬ 
tion.—The liquid food 
is kept moving in the 
small intestine by 
the movement of its 
muscular walls. In 
this way the food is 
well mixed with the 

bile and pancreatic 35 _a tiny block cut from the wall of 
juice, and also the the intestine showing villi and the mouths 

other juice that is ^l^ds at a. 6 ydlus open to show 
^ the lacteal e and blood tubes m for ab- 

formed by the intes- sorbing food 

tinal glands. 

The food is acted on and changed by these several juices 
into a dark fluid called chyle. It is then ready to be re¬ 
ceived by the blood vessels, and carried to the heart, toes, 
fingers and other parts of the body. 

Nearly all the nourishment received by the body is 
taken from the food while in the small intestine. The 

















54 


HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


waste or unused portion of the food, with some of the bile, 
then passes on into the large intestine; from which it 
should be expelled once each day to avoid the collection 
of too much poisonous refuse causing a sluggish action of 
the bowels called constipation. 

The best means of preventing 
constipation is 'by exercise, the 
drinking of much water, especially 
in the morning before breakfast, 
and the eating of fruits. 

How the Food enters the Blood. 
—The chyle of the intestine is so 
watery that it will pass through 
the thin membrane lining the 
intestine. The cells forming the 
membrane help the passage or 
absorption of the food. The 
membrane is full of tiny blood 
tubes, with walls much thinner 
than tissue paper, so that the 
watery food can get through them. 
Fig. 37. -Showing 'h^w The absorbing surface is much 
food goes from the intes- increased by the cross folds of 
tines into the blood. membrane, and the millions 

of tiny outgrowths, the villi. These contain networks of 
blood tubes to receive the food. It is then carried to 
the liver. From here it goes to the large vein entering 
the heart, which sends it with the blood throughout the 
body. 

In the center of each villus is another kind of tube called 






HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


55 


it takes up the milky or fatty 
This lacteal unites with thousands 
from other villi, to carry their 


Psophagus 



a lacteal, because 
parts of the food, 
of similar lacteals 
food to a duct 
passing up along the 
backbone to enter 
a blood tube in the 
neck. Since the villi 
take up most of the 
food they are called 
absorbents. A little 
food and consider¬ 
able alcohol may 
be absorbed by the 
blood tubes in the 
wall of the stomach. 

Pancreas and Liver.—The pancreas, called by the butchers 
sweetbreads, is a long, flat, pinkish gland, just back of the 
stomach (Fig. 38). It sends about a quart of juice into 
the intestine daily. This is the most important of all the 
digestive juices, because it acts on all kinds of food, and 
prepares them to enter the blood. 

The liver is the largest gland of the body. It is of a 
dark red color, and lies directly below the diaphragm. 
On its under side is a sac, called the gall bladder, used in 
storing bile when there is no food in the intestine. 

The chief use of the liver, besides forming bile and stop¬ 
ping many of the poisons that may enter the body with the 
food, is to change sugars into a kind of starch, and store it 
until needed. It also changes some of the waste matter 


Fig. 38.—Important organs of digestion 
viewed from behind; d, the bile duct. 


56 


HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 




of the body into a form so that it can pass out through 

the kidneys, when car¬ 
ried there by the blood. 

Eating and Health.— 
In young persons, ihost 
of the headache, fe¬ 
verishness, foul breath, 
and pain in the stom¬ 
ach and intestines result 
from not giving the 
digestive organs the 
right kind of care. Chil¬ 
dren often eat too much 
candy, pickles and rich 
food, and wash their 
food down with a swallow of water, instead of chewing 
it enough to break 
it into fine bits and 
moisten it completely 
with saliva. 

After six years of 
age children should 
eat only three times 
daily. The taking of 
food every two or 
three hours spoils the 
appetite, and makes 


Fig. 39.—Hard boiled white of egg 
chewed ten times. 


the organs give out Pig. 39.-Hard bofled white of egg 
a weaker digestive chewed fifty times. 

juice. Cake, candy and pies or preserves should be 








HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


57 


eaten only at meal time, and then in small quantities. 
Sweetmeats often tempt persons to eat too much, and 
therefore plain food is much better for children. Some 
foods such as cucumbers, raw onions and hot bread 
are hard to digest, and should be used very sparingly 
by children. 

Digestion is greatly aided by fresh air and exercise, but 
violent exercise should not be taken within an hour after 
eating, as it draws the blood away from the stomach 
where it is needed to form gastric juice. The use of alco¬ 
holic drinks, or much tea, coffee, or ice water at meal time 
is a common cause of indigestion. 

How Strong Drink hurts the Stomach.—The soft, tender 
lining of the stomach is full of blood vessels forming a rich 
network. Strong drink, even in small quantities, makes 
these vessels become larger. This causes the glands to 
pour out gastric juice when it is not needed. In those 
taking strong wine or whisky several times daily, the 
vessels of the stomach remain constantly enlarged. The 
natural pink color of the stomach lining becomes changed 
to a reddish hue like the mucous lining of the throat when 
it is sore. 

Alcohol may also cause certain glands in the stomach 
to pour out a thick, slimy fluid, like that in the nose 
during a cold. This ropy mucus surrounds the par¬ 
ticles of food so that the digestive juices cannot dissolve 
them. 

Wine and Whisky hinder Digestion.—Some doctors think 
that a little wine taken at meal time by older persons 
helps digestion. Late experiments show that wine and 


58 


HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


whisky help digestion but little in any case, and in some 
persons they make digestion slower. 

Alcohol weakens the action of the muscles in the walls of 
the stomach, so that they do not squeeze the food about 
and mix it with the gastric juice. The food may lie in a 
mass while germs of decay act on it, and thus cause bad 
breath. 

The cause of improvement in many delicate persons, 
after giving up the use of beer and wine, is often due to 
better digestion brought about by the strong action of 
the stomach muscles. 

Learning how Alcohol affects the Stomach.—Wine some¬ 
times makes persons feel better after taking it with their 
meals because it numbs the nerves which would other¬ 
wise tell of any pain in the stomach. The real effect of 
strong drink on digestion has been learned by studying 
people who have used alcohol for a time and then lived 
without it. 

A man by the name of St. Martin had a hole shot through 
the front wall of his body, and into his stomach. As the 
wound healed leaving an opening, the doctors were able 
to watch the digestion of the food, and the effects of the 
alcohol given him. Much alcohol caused blood to ooze 
out from the tender lining of the stomach. 

Practical Questions 

1. How is food changed before it enters the blood? 2. What 
is a gland? 3. Name some glands. 4. What is a duct? 5. What 
is the alimentary canal? 6. What are the two parts of the trunk 
cavity? 7. Name the chief organs in each. 8. Where is mucous 


HOW FOOD IS USED BY THE BODY 


59 


membrane present? 9. What forms the saliva? 10. What is 
the result of chewing food? 11. Why should food be chewed 
thoroughly? 12. Why is chewing tobacco harmful? 13. In 
what way does smoking injure the mouth? 14. How does alcohol 
affect the mouth? 15. Describe the milk teeth. 16. When does 
the first permanent tooth appear? 17. How many permanent 
teeth are there? 18. Describe the enamel. 19. What causes 
teeth to decay? 20. Why should the teeth be brushed often? 
21. How many decaying teeth have you? 22. Describe the stom¬ 
ach. 23. How is the food mixed with the juices of the stomach? 
24. How can the quantity of gastric juice be increased? 25. De¬ 
scribe the small intestine. 26. Tell how the food is changed in the 
small intestine. 27. How does the food get into the blood? 28. 
Describe the pancreas. 29. Describe the liver. 30. How does 
alcohol affect the stomach? 

Suggestions for the Teacher 

During the study of this chapter, the teacher should observe the 
teeth of the pupils and where necessary, by a kind note to the par¬ 
ents suggest the importance of preserving the teeth as an aid to 
health. Among the lower grades nearly four fifths of the pupils are 
found to have decayed teeth which in many cases will later cause 
serious sickness and in some instances death. 


CHAPTER VII 


DRINK AND HEALTH 

Use of Water. —Most people do not drink so much 
water during cold weather as the body needs. The body 
requires about three quarts of water daily to supply the 
wants of the tissues and wash the impurities out of the 
system. Since not much more than a quart of water is 
present in the daily amount of food used, at least six 
glasses of water should be drunk. 

The use of much ice water is unhealthy, and may cause 
sickness when one is very warm. Some people injure 
their health by trying to satisfy their thirst with beer or 
whisky. Pure, cool, water is the best liquid to quench 
the thirst. 

Impure Water.— More than a hundred thousand persons 
in this country are made ill every year, by the use of im¬ 
pure water. Three fourths of all cases of typhoid fever 
come from the use of water containing the germs of this 
disease. 

Nearly all rivers supplying water to cities and towns 
contain some typhoid germs. Through the carelessness 
of the sick, or those who care for them, the germs may 
get into springs and wells. Water which looks clear may 
be very dangerous. The water of a stream running 
through an inhabited region is not safe to drink without 
special treatment. 


60 


DRINK AND HEALTH 


61 

How Water is made Unsafe. —Meat and other foods are 
spoiled by many kinds of bacteria. Water may have 
thousands of bacteria in every cupful, but it will cause no 
disease, unless the germs from sick persons, or animals, 
are present. The green plants often seen growing in springs 
do not harm the water. 

A well near a barnyard or cesspool is likely to be unsafe 
for use. The liquids enter the soil, and sometimes follow 



Fig. 40.—How the well often becomes impure and carries disease. 


along the crevice in rocks a hundred feet or more. Sewage^ 
which is household waste, garbage, or dead animals cast 
into a stream, or placed near a well or spring, may cause 
many deaths among those using the water. The excre¬ 
tions from one person sick with typhoid fever, near Wilkes- 
barre, in Pennsylvania, were thrown Out on the bank of 
a stream, and caused over a thousand cases of fever, and 
more than one hundred deaths among those using the 
water, several miles down the stream. 

How to make Water Safe. —^Any water may be made 












62 


DRINK AND HEALTH 


safe for drinking by boiling it one minute. Longer boiling 
gives the water a flat taste. The water may be cooled over 
night in a stone jar, and then placed in the ice box. 

Many of the cities run their water through a layer of 
sand and stones to remove the germs. This is known as 
filtration or filtering of the water. Any city using river 
water may save much sickness, and many lives yearly. 



Fig. 41.—Thousands of lives are saved yearly by filtering the germs 
out of water in this way. 


by filtering the drinking water. During the years 1900 
to 1905, thousands of people in Pittsburg, New Orleans, 
and Philadelphia died from the use of impure water. 

Additional Precautions for Obtaining a Pure Water 
Supply.—Many communities allow the water from which 
they draw their supply to collect in a large reservoir before 
it is piped to the houses. This practice helps to purify the 
water because the bacteria in a large, still body of water 
sink to the lower levels and gradually die. This settling 
is sometimes assisted by harmless chemicals put into the 
water. 

Aeration.—The jets or fountains of water one fre¬ 
quently sees near reservoirs are means of aerating the 





















DKINK AND HEALTH 


63 


water. This forcible exposure to air removes any un¬ 
pleasant odor or taste the water may have gained from 
minute plants and animals living in it. Aeration also 
helps to destroy bacteria. 



( 6 ) Keystone. 


Fig. 42.—An aerating plant. 


Most towns have their water supply analyzed by ex¬ 
perts to make sure of its purity. An owner of a well or 
spring can do the same at slight expense. 

The Alcoholic Drinks. —The alcoholic drinks, often 






64 


DRINK AND HEALTH 


called liquors or strong drinks, are composed largely of 
water, alcohol, and flavors. None of these drinks contain 
any disease germs, but when used day after day they often 
cause weakness and disease in some organs of the body. 
Some of the drinks containing alcohol are whisky, beer, 
brandy, rum, wine, porter, ale, cider, and birch beer. 


LT 


WHISKY 

aorruDM 

BOND 

SO'I’ALCOHOL 


W/DELV' 

ADVERTISED 

STOMACH 

BTTTERS 

44.f‘ALC0m 


WIDELV 

ADVERTISED 

CATARRH 

CURE 


iJ 


> c 




WIDELV 

ADVERTISED 

NERVE 

TON/C 


CHAMPAONt 


21'^ALCOHOL 






9^ALC0m 



BEER 


^^ALCOHOL 


Fig. 43.—The amount of alcohol in various drinks and patent medicines. 

Patent Medicines. —Many of the liquid patent medi¬ 
cines contain more alcohol than is present in beer, and some 
of them are so strong in alcohol that two or three tablespoon¬ 
fuls would make a child drunk. Many people have been 
known to get drunk by using patent medicines, which have 
fixed on them the terrible alcohol thirst. 

Patent medicines which contain alcohol and other harm¬ 
ful drugs should not be used. The good results, which 
they occasionally seem to give, are generally due to some 
stimulant, or to some sleep-producing drugs, which later 
cause harm. Thousands of lives have been wrecked, and 
others shortened, by using patent medicines, instead of con- 













































DRINK AND HEALTH 


65 


suiting a physician. Any medicine advertised as a sure cure 
for several ailments should be regarded as worthless. 

Cider. —Some persons who never take other alcoholic 
drinks use a considerable quantity of cider without realizing 
that it contains alcohol. After standing for a few days of 
warm weather the cider may contain more alcohol than is 
present in beer. Cider in this condition has a sour and biting 
taste and is said to be hard. Two or three glasses of very 
hard cider are likely to make one drunk. Soon after the 
cider becomes hard, certain bacteria change the alcohol into 
vinegar. 

Soft Drinks. —Soda water, ginger ale, lemon soda, and 
other similar beverages are called soft drinks, because they 
contain no alcohol. The biting taste is due to carbon diox¬ 
ide, with which they are charged. They are healthful when 
used in moderation. Birch beer is not strictly a soft drink, 
because it contains about one third as much alcohol as other 
beer. 

Why Alcoholic Drinks Are Used. —When persons feel 
lazy and dull, they sometimes take a drink to make them 
feel lively and cheerful. As this pleasant effect of a drink 
lasts only an hour or two, more drink must be taken fre¬ 
quently. In this way an unnatural thirst is developed, and 
one feels a continual longing for liquor. If a person con¬ 
tinues to satisfy the longing day after day, an awful appetite 
is likely to grow in him, until he is no longer able to keep from 
drinking even though he may try very hard. 

Some persons drink to forget sorrow and trouble. It is 
very foolish to do this, because the effect of the drink wears 
off in a few hours, and the sorrow is more bitter than ever. 


DAV. PHY8. INT. — 5 


60 


DRINK AND HEALTH 


Others drink to be social, and because for a short time the 
drink helps them to talk more glibly. Drinking for such 
reasons is unwise, because alcohol puts their common sense 
to sleep and they are likely to do and say very foolish things. 

Some people drink whisky in cold weather because they 
think it makes them warm. Really, the result of the use 
of alcohol is to leave the body colder than it was before. 
Alcohol undergoes oxidation in the body just as easily as 
outside. It sets free heat, but as it almost immediately 
causes the blood vessels in the skin to grow larger, the 
blood rushes to the surface of the body and gives off its 
heat to the air. 

The last Antarctic expedition gave a striking proof of 
this fact. A party of explorers were lost in a blizzard and 
could not find their way back to shelter. In spite of all 
warnings some of the men, discouraged by the cold, opened 
their kits and drank some liquor. Every one of these men 
froze to death during the night while their companions who 
had drunk no alcohol survived. 

Alcohol Interferes with the Power to Work.—Many 
people drink alcohol because they think it makes them work 
better. This, however, is not true. A good proof of the 
loss of working power was an experiment performed on work¬ 
men in a printing house. These laborers were paid each 
day for the number of words they put together from separate 
pieces of type. On alternate days they were given a small 
amount of alcohol. They themselves believed that they 
worked better on the days on which they had their liquor 
than on the others. It was found, however, that the actual 
work done was ten per cent less on days on which they drank 


DRINK AND HEALTH 


67 


the alcohol, and therefore their wages were decreased to the 
same extent. 

Alcohol Keeps People Out of Many Positions. —There 
are many employers who insist upon total abstinence as the 
condition for employment. The first effect of alcohol on 
the mind is to interfere 
with judgment. Now¬ 
adays, therefore, a man 
who drinks even the 
smallest amount of 
alcohol is usually re¬ 
fused as an engineer, 
a motorman, a brake- 
man, a chauffeur, or a 
telegraph operator. 

Alcohol Injures the 
Health. —Very few, if 
any, persons can drink 
liquor daily for many 
years, without causing 
disease in some of the 
organs, — the liver, kid¬ 
neys, heart, or other 
blood vessels. It also 
causes lasting injury to the nervous system. 

The records of one of the large insurance companies show 
that persons not using alcoholic drinks suffer but little over 
one half as many weeks’ sickness as drinkers. Experiments 
show that alcohol weakens the system, and makes it an easy 
prey to disease caused by bacteria. 



Fig. 44. —Even a small dose of alcohol 
may cause the engineer to misunder¬ 
stand the signal. The result may be 
the wrecking of the train. 


















68 


DRINK AND HEALTH 


Alcohol Makes Persons Weak. — It was once thought that 
the use of wine and whisky gave power. Many observa¬ 
tions and experiments, lately made, show that they really 
weaken both mind and body. Actual tests prove that those 
who use alcoholic beverages cannot add a column of figures 
so fast, shoot so straight, pitch a ball so far, or remember so 
well as the total abstainers. 

Careful records show that such diseases as pneumonia 
and tuberculosis are more likely to attack habitual drinkers 
than those whose bodies are not weakened by alcohol. 
The persons soonest overcome with cold in winter, and 
heat in summer, are the beer drinkers, and lovers of wine 
and whisky. 

Alcohol Makes People Poor. — The one great agent making 
people homeless and hungry is strong drink. Records 
tell in accurate figures that more than one third of the 
thousands of poor, living in the almshouses of this country, 
were brought there by the use of alcoholic drinks. 

Inquiry into the cause of the condition of over five 
thousand homeless children brought forth the informa¬ 
tion that over two thousand of them owed their sad state 
to the use of alcoholic drink by the parents. The habitual 
drinker not only spends much money for his destroying 
drink, but renders himself unfit to perform any careful 
work to earn money. 

Alcohol Makes People Wicked. — Strong drink often ruins 
not only the body, but also the character. Many persons 
who are honest when sober have been led to steal, and 
even murder, while under the influence of liquor. Alcohol 
weakens the will, and lets the evil nature control the man. 


DRINK AND HEALTH 


69 


Inquiry concerning thirteen hundred convicts in our 
state prisons and reformatories a few years ago, led to the 
discovery that alcoholic drink caused a large proportion 
of these criminals to be guilty of crime. 

Danger in using Alcoholic Drinks.—Some persons can 
take strong drink occasionally without injuring their health. 
They may, however, do much harm by leading others 
to drink, who little by little fasten on themselves the 
destroying appetite. 

A young person who drinks occasionally is much more 
likely to become intemperate than a person over fifty 
years of age, because alcohol has a greater effect on the 
nervous system of the young than the aged. About one 
in every ten occasional drinkers becomes a drunkard. 
The habitual use of alcoholic drinks for a few years in 
youth is almost certain to so weaken the' will and to poison 
the tissues that the user cannot quit drinking without taking 
special treatment to cure his sick body. 

Quick Effect of Alcohol.—Alcohol was once thought to 
be a stimulant. A stimulant is anything which causes 
the organs of the body to work faster. Alcohol is now 
called a narcotic. This is any drug which tends to produce 
sleepiness and dull pain. A small amount of whisky 
may cause some of the organs to work more quickly for 
a few minutes, but for a much longer time it makes the 
same organs work slower than usual. 

Practical Questions 

1. Why should we drink much water? 2. What is the danger 
from impure water? 3. How is water made unsafe? 4. How 


70 


DRINK AND HEALTH 


may any water be made safe for drinking ? 5. Does filtering water 

prevent sickness? 6. What care ought every community to take 
of its water? 7. What should an individual do? 8. Why should 
persons not use patent medicines? 9. Why do some persons drink 
liquor? 10. Why is it unwise to use alcoholic drinks? 11. W^hat 
effect has alcohol on the amount of work done? 12. How does 
it affect a man’s chances of employment? 13. Give facts showing 
that alcohol injures health. 14. What shows that alcohol makes 
people weak? 15. State facts showing that alcohol makes people 
poor. 16. How is it known that alcohol makes persons wicked? 
What is the danger in using alcoholic drink? 18. What is a 
stimulant? 19. What is a narcotic? 

Suggestions for the Teacher 

The fact that a quarter million of our people have died within the 
last ten years from the use of impure water shows that it is worth 
while for the teacher to make special inquiries from the pupils as to 
the source of their drinking water. A brief discussion of the sub¬ 
ject may lead to a remedy for the use of unclean cisterns and doubt¬ 
ful wells which wiU prevent unnecessary sickness and death in the 
future. 


CHAPTER VIII 


TOBACCO AND OTHER NARCOTICS AND THEIR EFFECT 
ON HEALTH 

Nature of Narcotics.—A narcotic is that which when 
taken into the body tends to deaden pain, produce sleepi¬ 
ness, and make some of the organs act more slowly. Alco¬ 
hol, tobacco, laudanum and many patent medicines are 
common narcotics. 

In the beginning, the taste of narcotics is often un¬ 
pleasant, and may make the user sick. By daily 
use his system be¬ 
comes accustomed to 
the poison until he is 
compelled to take 
large quantities to 
satisfy the unnatural 
appetite. 

How Tobacco is 
made.—Tobacco is 

the dried and cured 
leaves of a plant 
growing to the height of three or four feet. The states 
raising the largest amount of tobacco are Kentucky, 
North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Ohio. 

Chewing tobacco is made by pressing the leaves into the 
71 





72 


TOBACCO AND OTHER NARCOTICS AND 


form of blocks which are cut into fine shreds. In the 
manufacture of cigars, some of the leaves are formed into 
a roll and then a piece of a large leaf is wrapped around it. 

A cigarette is a small roll of tobacco usually held to¬ 
gether by a paper wrapper. Some smokers make their 
own cigarettes from fine-cut tobacco. 

Poison from Tobacco.—Many 
persons after the age of twenty 
years use tobacco all their lives 
and seem not to be harmed by it. It 
is likely, however, that in numer¬ 
ous cases some of the organs are 
prevented from doing their best 
work. In the young who use much 
tobacco, certain organs are seriously 
weakened by the poison. This 
poison is nicotine. 

If a pipeful of tobacco be boiled 
in a cup of water much of the 
poison will be drawn out into the 
water. If this poisoned water is 
then put into a quart jar of water 
containing a small fish, it will kill 
the fish in less than a half hour. 

Harm in Smoking.—Some people think they can smoke 
without any bad results, because they believe the burning 
of the tobacco will destroy the poison. This is not true. 
The nicotine is drawn into the mouth with the smoke, and 
is then absorbed into the blood. The burning of the 
tobacco also gives rise to another poison. 



Fig. 46.—This fish was 
killed in twenty-five 
minutes by the poison 
soaked out of the 
bunch of tobacco at 
the right and placed 
in an aquarium with 
the fish: 




THEIR EFFECT ON HEALTH 


73 


The smoking of cigars, or of tobacco in a pipe, is less 
harmful than using cigarettes. The smoking of tobacco, 
in any form by young persons, prevents proper growth, by 
making the cells act too slowly, and thus neglect doing 
their whole duty. It lessens the sense of taste, sometimes 
causes a poor appetite, and in other ways has an unwhole¬ 
some effect on the organs of digestion. Some schools, 
realizing how the health may be injured by tobacco, have 
absolutely prohibited its use among their pupils. 

Cigarettes.—The cigarette habit is dangerous to young 
people. The small cost of a single smoke and the mildness 
of the tobacco tempt boys to form a habit which very few 
are strong enough to break away from, even when they 
learn it will gradually weaken the body. Serious sickness, 
insanity and death have resulted from excessive cigarette 
smoking. It is so harmful to boys that many business 
men will not employ those accustomed to use cigarettes. 

It is the duty of states to make such laws as will pro¬ 
tect health and prevent crime. Some states have, there¬ 
fore, passed laws preventing the sale and manufacture of 
cigarettes within their borders. Since 1896, when people 
learned the danger from the use of cigarettes, the number 
manufactured in the United States has decreased about 
one half. 

The Chewing of Tobacco.—The chewing of tobacco is an 
uncleanly habit, as well as injurious to health. It causes 
a great waste of saliva which is much needed to act on the 
food. Using tobacco in this way permits so much poison 
to enter the system that it sometimes affects the heart. 

To get rid of some of the poison, the tobacco chewer 


74 


TOBACCO AND OTHER NARCOTICS AND 


must constantly indulge in the unclean habit of spitting. 
This makes him disagreeable to others and prevents him 
from securing employment with many business houses. 

Snuif.—Snuff is tobacco ground into a fine powder to 
which other materials are sometimes added. Snuff using 
was a common habit among both men and women a hun¬ 
dred years ago, but it has long been out of style. The 
snuff was drawn up the nose so as to affect the delicate 
nerve endings, and cause the person to sneeze. Snuff 
-tends to cause soreness in the nose and throat. 

Opium.—Opium, like tobac¬ 
co, is used by thousands of 
people for the pleasant effect 
it produces. The drug is 
made from the white poppy, 
grown in Asia Minor, Egypt, 
India, Persia and China. By 
cutting gashes in the head 
of the poppy, a fluid is made 
to run out and form a gummy 
substance. From this the 
pure opium is secured. 

Use of Opium.—Opium is much used in medicine to 
produce sleep, numb pain, and quiet the organs of the 
body. Opium forms the most important part of pare¬ 
goric, laudanum and most soothing sirups. Morphine is 
a strong form of opium. Opium and morphine are danger¬ 
ous drugs, and should not be used, except by the advice 
of a physician. 

In China, and in some other countries, opium is smoked 



THETR EFFECT ON HEALTH 


75 


and also eaten by persons who have acquired the habit, 
and are unable to stop it. In this way it has ruined the 
body, mind and character of thousands of people. Laws 
have been made to stop its use in some countries. Japan 
no longer allows it to be sold, except for medicine. 

Danger in Using Drugs.—No one can form the habit of 
using opium or morphine, without making himself miser¬ 
able, and injuring his health very much. The use of these 
drugs regularly, for only one month, will, in many cases, 
fix the habit so firmly on a person that he cannot stop 
it without help. Nearly one million persons are suffering 
from the opium or morphine habit in the United States. 

The many advertisements in newspapers and magazines, 
offering to cure the opium or morphine habit, are by dis¬ 
honest persons who rob drug victims of thousands of 
dollars yearly. A physician at home should be asked to 
direct the cure of the patient. Cocaine is another dan¬ 
gerous drug, which should not be used except by the ad¬ 
vice of a physician. 

How the Drug Habit is brought on.—No one expects to 
become a slave to any drug when he begins using it. Some 
persons take a drug to make them sleep, and others to 
soothe pain or help a headache. The dose, from week to 
week, must be constantly increased to produce the desired 
effect, because the system becomes accustomed to the 
poison. Before the user is aware of it, the terrible drug 
habit fixes itself on him, and he finds himself in a nervous 
state of unrest, which nothing helps except another dose 
of the drug. 

Laudanum, Paregoric and Soothing Sirups.—Many people 


76 


TOBACCO AND OTHER NARCOTICS AND 


have acquired the drug habit by using laudanum, which 
contains much opium. Paregoric is a mixture of alcohol 
and other drugs, with a small amount of opium. Sooth¬ 
ing sirups wrongly given to babies, to stop them from 
crying and produce sleep, contain some form of opium. 

Cough medicines very often have in them opium, mor¬ 
phine or chloroform. None of these drugs should be used, 
as they weaken the body and injure the health, and are 
likely to cause a false appetite leading the victim to ruin. 

Patent Medicines.—A patent medicine is a drug mixture 
which is advertised to cure one or several diseases, and 
whose contents are supposed to be unknown to all except 
the manufacturer. A reliable physician knows the value 
of all drugs used in patent medicines, and can select the 
one which is best suited to help each special ailment. 

Many patent medicines are advertised to cure consump¬ 
tion. None of them, except codliver oil preparations, 
help the disease, and most of them make it worse. The 
few who say that patent medicines have helped them are 
likely mistaken, as most sick persons get well without 
medicine. 

Danger in Using Patent Medicines.—Every year the 
people of our country pay $75,000,000 for patent medicines. 
Some of them make persons drunkards, some make their 
users slaves to the opium habit, and others cause death. 
Nearly all liquid patent medicines contain alcohol. The 
advertised cures for cold, coughs and consumption often 
contain chloroform, morphine, strychnine and other 
poisons. Cocaine is generally present in remedies offered 
to cure catarrh. Headache powders have caused a number 


THEIR EFFECT ON HEALTH 


77 


of sudden deaths, due to a powerful drug weakening the 
action of the heart. It is wise to take no medicine, except 
by the advice of a physician. 

Practical Questions 

1 . Name some narcotics. 2. Tell how tobacco is made. 3 . 
What is the poison in tobacco? 4. How does smoking tobacco 
harm the young? 5. Why is the smoking of cigarettes especially 
harmful? 6. Why should tobacco not be chewed? 7. How is 
opium secured? 8. What is morphine? 9. What is the danger 
in using drugs? 10. How is the drug habit caused? 11. Why 
should you not use paregoric or soothing sirup? 12. What is a 
patent medicine? 13. Why is it wrong to use patent medicines? 
14. Can a patent medicine cure consumption? 15. How much 
is spent yearly for patent medicines? 

Suggestions for the Teacher 

A very interesting experiment showing the poison in tobacco, may 
be performed as follows: Secure the stump of a cigar or any small 
piece of tobacco and boil it five minutes in a httle water. Pour this 
water into a quart or half-gallon jar of water containing a fish, tad¬ 
pole or any other water-breathing animal and note how soon the 
creature goes to sleep and then dies. 


CHAPTER IX 


THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 

The Need of Blood.— The food, after being digested in 
the intestine, must be carried to all parts of the body 
to feed the organs. This is done by the blood constantly 
flowing in tubes, some of which collect the food from the 
intestine. 

The dead or worn 
out parts of the body, 
in the arms, legs and 
elsewhere, are taken 
up by the blood and 
brought to the lungs, 
kidneys and sweat 
glands. These organs 
remove the waste from 
the blood. The blood 
is also needed to carry 
the oxygen of the air 
from the lungs, to the 
working cells in all 
regions of the body. 

The important fact that blood circulates through the 
body was discovered by William Harvey in 1628. 

Parts of the Blood.— The blood is made of tiny cells 



Fig. 48.—William Harvey 


THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 79 


called corpuscles, and a liquid named plasma. The plasma 
is almost as clear in appearance as water, but the blood 
looks red because of the millions of red corpuscles present. 

Very soon after blood runs from cut 
vessels it forms into a jellylike mass. 

This is called a clot. Its formation is known 
as the clotting of the blood. It is by this 
means, and the squeezing together of the 
cut part of the blood tube, that nature 
stops the flow of blood. 

A clot is caused by fibrin a threadlike 
substance which forms in shed blood and 
entangles the corpuscles. By putting the 
clot in a cloth and washing and squeezing 
it in a pan of water, the white fibrin may 
be washed clear of the corpuscles. 

Blood Corpuscles.—These tiny bodies are 
of two kinds, the red, and the white. The 



Fig. 49.—This 
jar was 
caught full 
of blood at 
the slaugh¬ 
ter shop,and 
left stand¬ 
ing in a cold 
room over 
night. The 
clot floats in 
the serum. 

red corpuscles have the 
form of deep saucers or 
cups, and are five hun¬ 
dred times as numerous 
as the white ones. 

The white corpuscles 
often like little balls, 
change their shape al- 

Fig. 50. —Red corpuscles, one of which most constantly, and 
is cut into halves. Much enlarged. often creep OUt of the 

blood tubes and among the tissues. A single drop of 
blood contains more than a million corpuscles. Many 











80 THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 

die every hour, and new ones are being formed within 
the bones and also by small bodies called lymph nodes. 

Use of Blood Corpuscles.—The red corpuscles are like 
little boats. They carry oxygen to every cell in 

the body and carry 
away much of one 
kind of waste, known 
as carbon dioxide. An 
important part of a 
red corpuscle is iron. 
It is shaped like a deep 
saucer and can carry 
a larger load than if it 
were of the form of 
other cells in the body. 
Its true form has only 
lately been discovered. 
The white corpuscles 
help to clot the blood in a wound. They remove un¬ 
necessary tissue, such as the lump formed by the 
healing of a broken bone. Their greatest duty' is 
to act as soldiers, defending the body from bacteria, 
which they can destroy in large numbers. A white blood 
corpuscle has been seen to eat a dozen bacteria in a few 
minutes. The pus, or white matter, in a sore is largely 
made of dead white corpuscles, which rushed there to 
kill the bacteria, but were themselves overcome by the 
bacteria. 

Blood Plasma.—The plasma is a clear fluid. In addi¬ 
tion to floating the corpuscles, it contains food for the 



Fig. 51. —White blood corpuscles. The 
three at the left are creeping about. 
Drawn from a drop of blood kept 
warm under the microscope. Much 
enlarged. 




THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 81 


cells of the body, and some 
ashes or waste matter given 
out by the cells. Like the 
white corpuscles, it passes 
out through the small, thin- 
walled tubes so as to bathe 
every cell in the body and 
give it food. At the same 
time it receives and carries 
away waste products. 

Blood plasma is present 
only in the living body. 
When blood has been caught 
in a glass, a clot forms, 
and on the following day 
a clear fluid is seen to sur¬ 
round the clot. This is 
blood serum. It differs from 
plasma in not having in it 
the agent causing the blood 
to clot. 

How the Blood Passes 
through the Body .—T h e 
blood is contained in a cen¬ 
tral organ called the heart, 
and branching tubes named 
vessels. One set of vessels 
named arteries carries the 
blood from the heart to the 
head, legs and other parts of 

DAV. PHTS. INT.—6 



Fig. 52.—Chief veins and arter¬ 
ies of the body, a, place of 
the heart; the veins are in 
black. On the right side of 
the picture the veins just 
under the skin are shown and 
on the other side the deep* 
vessels near the bones, h 
vessels to the lungs. 

the body. Another set of 

















82 THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 

vessels known as veins returns the blood to the heart 
The veins appear as blue lines beneath the skin on the 
under side of the wrist. 

The small amount of blood oozing out of the tiny tubes 
called capillaries which connect the veins with the arteries, 
is brought back to the heart by a set of vessels named 
lymphatics or lymph vessels (Fig. 56). 

How Strong Drink reaches the Blood. —Very little of 
the food swallowed passes directly from the stomach into 
the blood. Most of it goes into the intestine. Strong 
drink, however, quickly enters the transparent blood 
tubes in the lining of the stomach. Within three minutes 
after whisky is swallowed some of it may be found in the 
blood. The greatest amount of alcohol is present in the 
blood about fifteen minutes after the drink has been 
taken. 

Alcohol Injures the Red Blood Corpuscles. —So far as 
known, a small quantity of wine or whisky has no effect 
on the red blood corpuscles. The large amount of alcohol 
in liquor, often taken by steady drinkers, badly damages 
these corpuscles. This has been shown by the experi¬ 
ments of a German scientist in 1904. In some cases, 
when much whisky is used daily, many corpuscles are 
entirely destroyed, and the person becomes sick because of 
poor blood. 

Alcohol Makes the White Corpuscles Weak. —The germs 
of disease often get into the body with food and drink, or 
when the skin is cut and bruised. They are generally 
prevented from harming the body by the white blood 
corpuscles, which devour them. Late experiments in 


THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 



Fig. 53. —The heart between the 
lungs. From a photograph. 

the use of alcohol. A noted 
French scientist has lately said 
that nearly one half the deaths 
from tuberculosis are due to 
alcohol. 

The Heart. —The heart is 
about as large as one’s fist, and 
lies between the lungs in the 
chest cavity. It has the shape 
of a strawberry. Its walls are 
made of muscle, and the cavity 

Fig. 54.— The heart from in is divided into four parts, 

front, a, right auricle: 5, ^ 

The two upper chambers with 


left auricle; r, right ven¬ 
tricle; I, left ventricle; p, 
artery to the lungs; o, aorta; 
v, vena cava. Fronj a photo¬ 
graph. . 


thin walls are the amides. The 
two lower chambers with thick 
walls are the uaurides. 


France have shown that 
these corpuscles are much 
weakened when persons use 
alcoholic drink. 

Rabbits into which an¬ 
thrax germs are put, do not 
take the disease until they 
are fed alcohol. Tuberculosis 
often attacks drinkers when 
their white blood corpuscles 
have become weakened by 


Win 
pipe 
Vessel 
to 




84 THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 

The auricles receive the blood from the veins, and pass 
it to the ventricles, through two openings guarded by 
valves (Fig. 60). These prevent the blood from flowing 
backward. Each ventricle by squeezing its walls together 
forces the blood out into an artery. 

The Arteries.—These are the vessels bearing the blood 
away from the heart. Their walls are made largely of 
muscle and other elastic tissue. The lung artery carries 
the blood from the right ventricle to the lungs, in which 
it branches like the limbs of a tree. This branching allows 
the blood to come in close contact with the air in the 
richly branching air tubes of the lungs. In this way the 
blood gets its oxygen from the air. 

The main artery through the trunk of the body is the 
aorta receiving the blood from the left ventricle. The 
aorta gives off more than a score of branches to the head, 
arms, ribs, digestive organs, and legs. Each of these 
branches divides again and again like the limbs of a tree, 
until they become smaller than hairs. At the end of these 
hairlike branches is a network of still finer tubes, called 
capillaries. These join the arteries with the veins (Fig. 52). 

The Veins.—The veins beginning in little branchlets 
receiving the blood from the capillaries, unite into larger 
and larger vessels until there are but two chief veins in 
the trunk of the body. One of these great veins, as large 
as the thumb, receives the blood from the head and arms 
and empties it into* the right auricle of the heart. The 
other vessel, lying just in front of the backbone, receives 
the blood from the legs and digestive organs, and carries 
it also into the right auricle. 


THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 85 



The blood is brought to the left auricle from the lungs 
by several lung veins. This is called arterial blood, because 
it has just received oxygen from the air in the lungs, and 
cast off its carbon dioxide. All other veins carry venous 
blood, which is rich in carbon dioxide, but contains little 
oxygen. All arteries, except the lung artery, carry arterial 
blood, which is rich in oxygen. 

The Capillaries.—The capillaries form the network of 
tiny tubes joining the 
ends of the arteries 
with the beginning of 
the veins. They are so 
abundant everywhere 
in the flesh, that a 
pin cannot enter it 
without piercing one. 

Their wall is thinner 
than the thinnest 
tissue paper, so that 
the food in the blood 
can pass through to 
feed the cells of the 
body. 

The oxygen also passes out of the blood through the 
walls of the capillaries to supply the tissues, and at the 
same time carbon dioxide and other waste enter the blood. 

Some of the blood plasma and white corpuscles pass 
out of the capillaries and are not able to return to them. 


Fig. 55. —Blood plasma passing out of 
the capillaries to feed the cells. It is 
there taken up by the lymph vessel. 


They are taken up by another set of tubes called lymph 
vessels (Fig. 57). 




86 THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 


The Lymph Vessels or 
Lymphatics. —These are 
numerous small tubes, 
beginning with mouths 
opening into the many 
spaces among the mus¬ 
cles and just under the 
skin. The tubes unite 
into larger and larger 
vessels until there are 
but two main ones. 
These lead into the veins 
in the neck. The largest 

„ , , , . , lymph vessel is the left 

Fig. 56.—The lymph vessels of the ^ . 

body, rc, the thoracic duct; lac, thoracic duct. This is 
the lacteals taking the lymph and about the size of a lead 
fatty part of food from the in- ., , « 

testines. pencil and lies in front 

of the backbone. 

That part of the blood escaping from the capilla¬ 
ries together with some waste matter from the cells of the 
body, forms the lymph conveyed by the lymph vessels. 




Fig. 57.—Lymph vessels under the skin of the arm. 

Poisons or medicines introduced under the skin are taken 
up by the lymph vessels. Bacteria in the mouth and 









THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 87 


digestive canal may 
enter the soft tissues 
and then get into the 
lymph vessels. The 
lymph vessels pass 
through bodies named 
lymph nodes or glands. 

These are able to destroy 
many bacteria. 

How the Blood Feeds 
the Body.—The tiny 
capillaries and lymph 
vessels in the millions 
of villi sticking out into 
the cavity of the small 
intestine drink in the Fig. 58.—Lymph 



vessels and lymph 


liquid food. It is then 


nodes or glands. 


carried by the blood to the liver or by the lymph 
vessels to the veins in the neck. By the veins of the liver 
and those of the neck, the 
food reaches the heart, which 
sends it with the blood through 
the arteries to all parts of the 
body. All arteries lead into 
capillaries which allow the food 
to pass out through their walls 
to nourish the body cells. 

Course of the Blood.—The 
blood always flows in one 
direction, because the four 



Ftg. 59.—Blood plasma passing 
out of capillary to feed the 
body cells. 


88 THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 


valves in the heart close when the blood attempts to go 
backward. Starting from the left ventricle, the blood 
goes through the arteries of the 
body, then passes through the 
capillaries into the veins of the 
body, to be returned to the right 
auricle. From here it flows to 
the right ventricle to be forced 
through the arteries to the lungs, 
from which the veins return it 
to the left auricle, sending it to 
the left ventricle. 

What Makes the Blood Move. 
—^The heart is the main force 
causing the movement of the 
blood around within the body. 
This movement is called the aV- 
culation. The blood goes from 
the heart to the toes and re¬ 
turns in less than one minute. 
In the arteries it does not flow 
steadily but in waves. This 
may be felt by placing the finger 

Fig. 60.— Diagram of the rush lightly on the artery in the wrist 
of the blood when the heart 
beats. The valves v open 

above are closed below while The beating of an artery is 
the valves s closed above are called the pulse. It is produced 
open below. squeezing together and 

the pushing out of the walls of the heart. The heart beats 
in a grown person about seventy times per minute. 









THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 8^ 


The squeezing together of the walls of the ventiicles 
pushes the blood into the arteries because the valves 
prevent it from flowing back into the auricles. The 
pushing apart of the walls of the ventricles tends to suck 
the blood down from the auricles which beat feebly to aid 
the flow of the blood. The valves at the openings of the 
arteries from the ventricles prevent the blood from coming 
back into them. The elasticity of the arteries and the 
pressure of the muscles on them in moving and breathing, 
aid in pushing the blood along. 

How Exercise Affects the Heart.—^After walking up hill, 
or running for a few minutes, the heart will beat much 
faster and stronger. This is because more oxygen was 
needed by the muscles. At every movement of the body 
oxygen is used up. The hungry tissues cry out for more 
and order the heart to beat quicker, so that the blood will 
flow faster, and thus carry more oxygen from the lungs. 
Very prolonged and violent exercise such as jumping the 
rope or continuous running, overworks the heart, and may 
cause sudden death. 

Fainting.—In crowded houses where there is much heat 
and impure air, or because of fright the heart may become 
weak and beat very slowly. Too little blood is then sent 
to the head, the person becomes dizzy and falls into a 
deep sleep. This is called fainting. The person should be 
laid flat on the back, on the floor, the clothing loosened, 
and the windows opened wide. A few splashes of cold 
water in the face are helpful. Recovery usually occurs 
in a few minutes. 

Bleeding from a Wound.—More than a quart of blood 


yu THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 


may be lost without causing death. The flow from an 
artery is more dangerous than that from a vein, because 
it runs out with so much more force that a clot cannot 
form to clog up the break. The flow from an artery is 
by spurts, while that from a vein is a steady stream. 

The flow from a small 
vein or artery may be 
stopped by merely 
tying a clean cloth over 
the wound. To stop the 
flow from a larger ves¬ 
sel, a handkerchief or 
cloth should be tied 
loosely about the limb 
and then twisted tight 
by placing a stick un¬ 
derneath and twisting 
it around once or twice 
as shown in Figure 61. 
If a vein is cut, the 
cloth should be placed 
on the side of the wound away from the heart, but if an 
artery is cut, the cloth must be placed between the wound 
and the heart. 

If the wound is made by a dirty nail or instrument, 
it must be well washed out with water that has been 
boiled, to kill the bacteria. A few drops of turpen¬ 
tine, alcohol or other germ killer may then be poured 
on the wound, after which it should be bound up in s 
clean cloth. 



Fig. 61.—Stopping the flow of blood from 
an artery in forearm. Note that the 
stick under the handkerchief presses on 
the main artery near the armpit. 


THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 9i 

Never put tobacco, cobwebs, or any other dirty material 
on a cut, or seal it shut with court plaster. Catching 
cold in a cut means getting bacteria into it. Pus is then 
often formed and lockjaw or blood poisoning may 
result. 

Exercise and Circulation.—But few people can remain 
long in good health without exercising one or two hours 
daily. Persons who take little exercise often feel tired, 
suffer from headache, and have a poor appetite. This 
condition is due largely to the sluggishness in the action 
of various organs, and to the collection of waste matter 
in the tissues. Medicine gives no lasting help but exer¬ 
cise is a sure cure for this condition. 

Exercise makes the heart more active, stimulates 
greatly the flow of the lymph, so as to carry off the waste 
matter and hastens the action of many other organs. 
Swimming, rowing, ball-playing, walking or chopping 
wood will do more to maintain a healthy blood supply 
than any medicine. 

Alcohol and the Heart.—An unhealthy heart makes a 
weak body. It has been shown by experiments on ani¬ 
mals, as well as by observations on man, that the use of 
alcohol weakens the heart, causes it to enlarge and changes 
some of its muscular fibers into fat. It was until lately 
thought that the heart was stimulated by alcohol, but it 
is now known that whisky slowly lessens the action of 
the heart muscle. 

It was once customary to give a few swallows of wine 
or whisky to persons recovering from a fainting or ex¬ 
hausted condition. Lately it has been found that the 


92 THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BXXDY 

mere swallowing of anything hot stimulates the heart 
beat more than the use of alcoholic drinks. 

The habitual use of beer causes an overgrowth of heart 
tissue and an unhealthy formation of fat. In Germany, 
where much beer is used, hundreds of people die yearly 
from disease of the heart caused by beer. 



Fig. 62 .—Healthy heart on the left and heart of a beer drinker on the 
right. The irregular white areas are clumps of fat. 


Alcohol and the Blood Vessels.—The taking of only one 
or two tablespoonfuls of whisky will cause the small blood 
vessels to expand in all parts of the body. Repeated 
doses of alcohol will keep the blood vessels expanded, and 
so permit an overcrowding of the blood in many of the 
organs of the body. This condition is likely to lead to 
disease of such organs as the liver and kidneys. 

The continuous use of alcoholic drinks may also result in 
a change in the walls of the blood vessels, causing them 
to become thick and hard. This thickening of the walls 



THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 93 

later lessens the cavity of the tubes, and so makes the 
heart work harder to get enough blood through the small 
channels. 

Narcotics and the Blood System.—The use of tobacco by 
the young often affects the heart so that it beats irregu¬ 
larly. The unsteady tobacco heart is common among 
boys using cigarettes. A number of candidates for the 
naval academy are rejected every year, because examina¬ 
tion shows that their hearts have been weakened by the 
use of tobacco, at a time in life when the poison has the 
greatest effect on the body. 

Many persons waste money on the purchase of patent 
medicines to purify the blood. These medicines fre¬ 
quently contain narcotics, or poisons which harm the blood 
system, instead of helping it. Blotches and pimples on 
the skin are not due to disorders of the blood, but to sick¬ 
ness in some organs of the body which need the attention 
of a trained physician. 

Practical Questions 

1 . Give three uses for the blood. 2. Who discovered the circu¬ 
lation of the blood? 3. Name the two parts of the blood. 4. How is 
a clot of blood caused? 5. Describe the two kinds of blood cor¬ 
puscles. 6. Of what use are the red corpuscles? 7. Of what use 
are the white corpuscles? 8. What is blood serum? 9. Name 
the kinds of blood vessels. 10. How does alcohol injure the blood? 
11. Describe the heart. 12. Which cavities receive the blood when 
it enters the heart? 13. Which vessels carry the blood from the 
heart? 14. Where does the blood get its oxygen from the air? 
15. Name the chief artery in the trunk of the body. 16. Where 
does the blood enter the veins? 17. How does arterial blood differ 


94 THE BLOOD AND ITS PASSAGE THROUGH THE BODY 

from venous? 18. Of what use are the capillaries? 19. Give the 
use of the lymph vessels. 20. Explain how the blood feeds the 
body. 21. Give the course of the blood. 22. What makes the 
blood flow in the vessels? 23. How many times per minute does 
your heart beat? 24. What is the remedy for fainting? 25. Ex¬ 
plain how the flow from a cut vessel may be stopped. 26. How 
should a cut be cared for? 27. How does alcohol affect the heart? 
28. How does alcohol harm the blood vessels? 29. How does 
exercise help one to keep well? 30. What effect have cigarettes 
on the heart? 


Suggestions for the Teacher 

The teacher who wishes to arouse in the pupils a lasting interest 
in this wonderful organ of life and have them fully understand how 
it works, should ask one of the pupils to secure from the butcher shop 
the entire heart of a calf, pig or sheep. Note the thick-walled artery 
leading from each ventricle and the several thin-walled veins 
entering the auricles. By cutting off the lower third of the heart, 
the cavities of the ventricles and the valves guarding the openings 
to the auricles may be seen. 


CHAPTER X 


BREATHING AND ITS USE 



What Air is Made of. —^Air is a mixture of four parts ot 
nitrogen and one part of oxygen. This may be shown 
by placing a match head on a bit of floating wood in a 
pan of water and turning a glass over it as soon as lighted. 
The burning of the 
match head will use 
up all of the oxygen 
under the glass, and 
the water will then 
rise one fifth of the 
height of the glass 

to take the place of Fig. 63.—Front half of a caterpillar, a, open* 
,1 ing of air tubes, a pair of which are shown 

tne oxygen. 

Why We Breathe. 

—Air is breathed into the lungs so that the blood can 
get the oxygen out of it and carry it to the cells of the 
body. Animals cannot live without oxygen. Even such 
little creatures as flies must have oxygen supplied to 
every cell in their bodies. Flies, caterpillars, and all other 
insects, have tubes branching throughout their bodies to 
carry air. Openings to these tubes may be seen along 
each side of the body of a grub or caterpillar. Some 
animals, such as the fish and crab, which live in water 


95 


96 


BREATHING AND ITS USE 


have gills instead of tubes or lungs to take oxygen into 
the blood. 

The oxygen when within our bodies unites with the 
food eaten or with the tissues of the body and produces 
heat and energy. The union of the oxygen with any 
substance is oxidation. The living action of the cells 
causes oxidation in all parts of the body. 

When a match is burned some ashes are left. 
Slow burning, or oxidation of food and dead flesh in 
the body leaves some ashes. Much of this is carbon 
dioxide, a heavy gas. This is carried by the blood to 
the lungs, which breathe it out into the air. We 
breathe, therefore, to get oxygen into the blood and 
to cast out carbon dioxide. 

The Parts of the 
Breathing System. 
—The four chief 
parts of the breath¬ 
ing or respiratory 
system are the nose, 
throat, vrindpipe and 
lungs. The air en¬ 
tering the nose fol¬ 
lows the nasal pas- 

Fig. 64.-The lungs in position. 

throat or pharynx. Here it. enters a tube called the 
windpipe or trachea. This is larger in diameter than the 
thumb, and three times as long. Its walls are stiffened 
with gristlelike rings. Its upper part made largely of gristle 
forms the larynx or voice box. The windpipe at its lower 





BREATHING AND ITS USE 


97 


larynx 



end divides into two 
tubes, the bronchi, oneof 
which enters either lung. 

The Lungs. — The 
lungs fill up most of the 
cavity of the chest. 

One lies on either side 
of the heart which is in 
the middle of the chest. 

The lungs in animals are 
called lights because 
they are spongy sacs and 
so light as to float when Fig. 65.—Diagram of the air tubes with 
thrown into water. The the lung tissue removed. 

lungs are really elastic bags consisting of many tubes 

branching to end in 
the 725,000,000 air sacs 
covered with a fine net¬ 
work of blood cap¬ 
illaries. 

Each tube which 
branches from the wind¬ 
pipe enters the lung and 
then divides again and 
again like the branches 
of a tree. The small end- 
branches open into air 
sacs. The many branch- 

Fig. 66. —Two of the air sacs from the tubes are called hron- 
lungs with the network of blood , , , , , 
tubes shown about one. tubes. 



DAY, PHYS. INT.— 7 









98 


BREATHING AND ITS USE 


How we Breathe.—Across the bottom of the chesl 
cavity is a thin muscle named the diaphragm. It arches 
upward so that its form is like a deep saucer turned up¬ 
side down. By shortening certain muscles, the diaphragm 
is stretched so that the center is pulled down. This act, 
and the pulling up of the ribs forming the sides of the 
chest, increase the size of the chest cavity and lessen the 
pressure on the lungs. This causes air to enter the lungs. 
This act is named inspiration. By making the chest 
smaller the air is forced out of the lungs. This is expiration. 

Breathing occurs about eighteen times each minute 
when one is resting, but much oftener during exercise or 
excitement. 

Changes in the Air in the Lungs.—When the air enters 
the lungs it contains almost no carbon dioxide. When it 
comes out of the lungs, nearly one twentieth of it is carbon 
dioxide, and there is one fifth less oxygen than in the 
entering air. If one breathe a full breath into a wide 
mouth pint bottle, it will contain so much carbon dioxide 
that a lighted splinter thrust into it will at once be ex¬ 
tinguished. This shows how breathing makei the air of 
a room impure. 

How Oxygen Reaches the Cells of the Body.—The air 
sacs of the lungs, made of thin transparent membrane, are 
covered with a network of blood capillaries. Oxygen 
quickly passes through the membrane and the walls of 
the capillaries and is received by the little boatlike red 
corpuscles which float along to the heart. This sends 
the corpuscles with their load of oxygen out to the capil¬ 
laries in all regions of the body. The thin walls of the 


BREATHING AND ITS USE 


99 


sapillaries allow the oxygen to pass out through them to 
supply the cells. 

While the oxygen is passing out of the capillaries to the 
cells, the carbon dioxide formed in the cells enters the 
blood through the walls of the capillaries. The blood 
flows very slowly through the capillaries, so that plenty 
of time is given for the exchange of these gases. The car¬ 
bon dioxide, when once in the blood, is carried by the red 
corpuscles and plasma to the lungs, where it goes out into 
the air sacs and is then breathed forth from the body. This 
exchange of oxygen for carbon dioxide in the body is 
called respiration. 

How to Make a Drowning Person Breathe.—A person 
after being under the water two or three minutes stops 



Fig. 67.—The way to make a drowning person breathe. 






100 


BREATHING AND ITS USE 


all efforts to breathe, and appears as if dead. A shock of 
electricity or exposure to a poisonous gas may also render 
one unconscious. Such an individual may often be made 
to breathe again and recover completely by causing arti¬ 
ficial respiration in the following manner: 

Pull the tongue out between the teeth, as soon as the 
patient is turned face downward on the ground and place a 
heavy folded coat or even a piece of sod under the chest. 
Stand astride him, and with the hands placed on the 
lower ribs bend forward so as to press in the ribs and force 
the air out of the lungs. Then straighten your body 
slowly, keeping the hands on the ribs, while lessening 
gradually the pressure. This causes the air to enter the 
lungs. Perform this act about 
sixteen times per minute. A 
half hour may be required to 
restore breathing. 

The Voice Box.—The tubelike 
enlargement at the top of the 
trachea is the larynx or voice 
box. It is made of several 
pieces of gristle held together 
by muscle and other tissue. The 
largest piece of gristle forms the 
prominence in the throat, called 
the Adames apple. 

Within the top of the larynx, and stretching from before 
backward on either side, is a fold of membrane called a 
vocal cord. The narrow opening between the two vocal 
cords is the glottis in front of which stands a small stif- 



Fig. 68.—The Larynx. 







BREATHING AND ITS USE 


101 



fened plate of tissue known as the epiglottis. This aids 
in keeping food out of the windpipe. 

The Voice.—Voice is produced either by forcing the 
breath out, or drawing it in between the stretched vocal 
cords. The rushing 
of the air past the 
vocal cords in the 
glottis causes them 
to vibrate like a 
stretched string 
when it is struck 
with the finger. This 
throws the air into 
waves in such a way 
as to make a sound. 

The higher sounds 
are produced by 
tightening the vocal 
cords by means of 
muscles pulling on 
the pieces of cart¬ 
ilage forming the 
larynx. 

Tlie sounds made 
by the vocal cords are greatly modified into speech by 
the action of the palate, forming the roof of the mouth, 
and by the tongue, teeth and lips. All animals from 
frogs to man have vocal cords and would probably be 
able to talk if they knew how to hold the parts of the 
mouth and throat in the proper position. 


Fig. 69.—Voice box with the back half 
cut away. 





102 


BREATHING AND ITS USE 


Training the Voice.—^The quality of the voice may be 
much changed by the way in which the teeth, tongue, lips 
and palate are held. Every boy and girl should try to 
cultivate a soft, clear voice and avoid the harsh rasping 
sounds which make one^s talk unpleasant. The success 
of business men is sometimes largely due to their amiable 
manner and pleasant tone of voice. 

The habit of mumbling or speaking indistinctly is one 
which if not overcome during school days may be a great 
hindrance to success. In talking the mouth should be 
opened quite wide, the lips moved firmly and the soft 
palate stretched so as to produce clear and distinct tones. 
When one is hoarse, the voice should be used as little as 
possible. A valuable training for the voice is reading 
aloud. 


Practical Questions 

1 , Of what does air consist? 2. Why do animals breathe? 
3. Of what use is oxygen in the body? 4. Name the parts of the 
breathing system. 5. Describe the lungs. 6. What causes air 
to run into the lungs? 7. How does the air breathed into the 
lungs differ from that breathed out? 8. How does the oxygen 
reach the cells of the body? 9. How does carbon dioxide get from 
all parts of the body to the lungs? 10. What is respiration? 
11. Tell how to perform artificial respiration. 12. When is arti¬ 
ficial respiration of use? 13. Describe the voice box. 14. De¬ 
scribe the vocal cords. 15. How is voice produced? 16. What 
are used besides the vocal cords in making speech? 17. Why 
should you learn to speak pleasantly and distinctly? 18. How 
may the voice be trained? 19. Why is it important you should 
have a pleasant voice? 20. Can you talk distinctly without 
moving the lips? 


CHAPTER XI 


AIR AND HEALTH 

Preventing Sickness of the Respiratory System. —^About 
a quarter of a million of people die every year in our 
country from disease of the lungs and throat. A half 
million others are sick with 
some ailment of the respira¬ 
tory system. Much of this 
misery is due to breathing 
air full of dust or other im¬ 
purities. The dust of the 
street should be kept down 
by sprinkling. Floors 
should be oiled or treated 
with dust-killing substances 
before being swept. Dust 
irritates the tender lining 
of the air tubes and thus 
opens the way for disease. 

A damp cloth should be 
used in dusting furniture; 
because the dust and disease germs will stick to it and 
not fly about. 

From the inner surface of the nose and all air tubes 



Fig. 70.—This dish of beef broth 
jelly as clear as glass was left 
open two minutes in a room be¬ 
ing swept. Each spot is a city 
of thousands of germs grown 
from one germ falling from the 
dust stirred up by sweeping. 


103 


104 


AIR AND HEALTH 


stick out tiny hairlike projections called cilia. These 
millions of cilia are always waving up and down in such a 
way as to move any dust particles outward from the lungs. 
This keeps the air sacs from being filled up. 

Exercising the Lungs.—The lungs of a twelve-year-old 
boy will hold nearly a gallon of air. By effort he can force 
out at one breath almost three quarts of this. In ordinary 

breathing, only about 
one pint comes out at 
each breath. Many 
of the air sacs are 
scarcely used at all 
and therefore they be¬ 
come weak and liable 
to disease. The chest 
instead of being full 
and round is fiat or 
hollow in front. 

Girls and boys 
should exercise their 
lungs several minutes 
each day, by taking 
in as much air as pos¬ 
sible at one breath. 
They should breathe 
air will be warmed and 
cilia. Swinging the 
at the side, behind 



Fig. 71.—A tiny block of tissue from the 
membrane lining the inner surface of the 
nose. Note the hundreds of cilia and the 
gland m which gives out the slippery 
white or colorless flnid called mucus. 
Much enlarged. 


through the nose so that the 
most of the dust caught by the 
arms back and forth above the head, 
the back, and in front of the body, strengthens the 
lungs and wards off disease. In sitting and walking 


















AIR AND HEALTH 


105 


one should hold the trunk erect and the shoulders thrown 
back, so that air can reach all parts of the lungs. 

Tight Clothing and Breathing.—Bands or other clothing 
worn tight around the waist or chest do not allow the 
walls of the chest to expand to their fullest extent. For 
this reason, the lungs cannot be filled completely with air, 
and the breathing becomes short and labored. The 
unused parts of the lungs may become diseased. The 
clothing about the waist should always be loose, especially 
in children, and the weight of the garments should be 
supported by straps over the shoulders. 

Need of Supplying Fresh Air in a Room.—Since each person 
uses a pint of air at every 
breath, and breathes 
eighteen times per min¬ 
ute, the air in a room 
soon becomes foul. It 
must therefore be ex¬ 
changed for fresh air. 

This exchange of foul 
for fresh air in a room is 
called ventilation. To 
keep the air of a room 
pure, twenty cubic feet 
of fresh air must flow 
in every minute for each 
person present. 

Impure Air Causes Disease.—About 150,000 persons 
die of tuberculosis in the United States every year. Many 
more are sick with the disease. One of the chief causes 



Fig. 72.—An experiment in ventilation 
The removal of any of the four corks 
gives some ventilation. The cat is 
uncomfortable when two corks are out 
on opposite ends but rests easy when 
two corks are out on the same end. 






106 


AIR AND HEALTH 


of this illness is impure air. The air of any room contain¬ 
ing one or more persons becomes impure in a few minutes, 
unless some way is provided for the fresh air to enter. 

Some years ago a 
tribe of Indians in 
Iowa, who were in 
good health, were 
persuaded to leave 
their tents and dwell 
in small houses. As 
a result of the im¬ 
pure air in the 
poorly ventilated 
houses, about one 
half of the Indians 
now have tuber¬ 
culosis, and the 
tribe is rapidly 
dying off from this 
disease. Living in impure air weakens nearly all organs 
and prepares them for disease. Schools that are well 
ventilated have less than one half as many pupils absent 
on account of sickness as those with poor ventilation. 

Ventilation and Colds.—The air in rooms not well ven¬ 
tilated is usually very dry. This causes the sweat to 
pass off from the body rapidly and carry with it heat, so 
that the room seems cold when it is really of a proper 
temperature. 

A room with pure air at sixty-eight degrees will feel 
warmer than a room with impure dry air at seventy-two de 



Fig. 73. —Ventilating a rural school. Cold 
air flows up through the pipe a, and is 
heated by stove b, inclosed in sheet iron c. 
The smoke stack e warms the air about it 
in brick flue / and thus draws the foul air 
through the opening d. 

















AIR AND HEALTH 


107 


grees. The change from the dry heated air to the moist 
cool air out doors is a common cause of a cold in the head, 
often called catarrh. In fact the over heated and poorly 
ventilated room is a frequent cause of all sorts of colds. 

How to Ventilate the School Room. — In many modern 
school buildings, the fresh air is heated by a furnace 
in the basement and then led by pipes to enter the 
rooms high enough above the floor to prevent a draft on 
the children. By means of a heated flue or fans caus¬ 
ing an outward draft the impure air is taken out of the 
rooms through openings near the floor. 

The following simple experiment may be tried to show 
that impure air is heavy and tends to keep near the floor. 
Breathe two or three times into each of two pint or quart 
bottles with mouths about an inch in diameter. Then 
hold one with mouth downward and let the other remain 
upright. At the end of two minutes, the first one will be 
free of impure air, so that a lighted stick thrust into it 
will continue to burn. After ten minutes the upright 
bottle will contain so much impure air that the lighted 
stick thrust into it will be at once extinguished. 

Animals cannot live and nothing can burn where there 
is much carbon dioxide. 

Several windows raised two or three inches from the 
bottom and pulled down as much from the top on the 
same side of the room, give the best ventilation where 
there is no special provision for ventilating. Drafts must 
be kept off the children by placing a board slanting inward 
at the bottom of the window. The fresh air enters at 
the bottom, sweeps the impure air along to the other side 


108 


AIR AND HEALTH 


of the room, where it is carried upward and then across 
beneath the ceiling to the open windows. 

A recess of five minutes may be taken every hour when 
the windows and doors may be opened wide to admit 
fresh air. Care should be exercised that the room is not 
made too cold. Children can do nearly twice as much 
work in a room well ventilated as in one poorly ventilated. 

Ventilation in the Home.—The tired, dull, unhappy 
feeling which often comes on people, especially in the 
winter season, is frequently the result of impure air. If 
the home is not heated by hot air brought by pipes from 
a furnace supplied with a fresh air duct leading from the 
outer air, a window should be kept open a little at the 
top and bottom in the living room. 

In the sleeping rooms, even in the coldest weather, one 
window should be open at least a foot, both at the top 
and bottom. Drafts should not blow on the sleeper. 
Plenty of covers must be used, and a cap may be worn to 
keep the head warm. If all people lived in fresh air, there 
would be but few cases of consumption, and much less 
sickness from other diseases. 

Colds in the Head.—Most children during the winter 
catch cold in the head. The air passages in the nose 
become filled up with a white substance called mucus. 
The glands in the mucous membrane lining the nose 
form this. 

These head colds, or catarrh, are usually due to wet 
feet, sitting in drafts, staying in rooms with dry and im¬ 
pure air, sleeping with the windows closed, or breathing 
through the mouth instead of the nose The best remedy 


AIR AND HEALTH 


109 


is to avoid what caused the evil. A little vaseline put 
into the nostrils and snuffed up will give some relief. Never 
use catarrh powders without consulting the family physi¬ 
cian. Many of them contain cocaine or other harmful 
drugs. They may give relief for a short time, but are 
likely to ruin the health. 

Adenoids or Nose Sponges. —Adenoids are spongy growths 
of the mucous membrane, in the 
back part of the nose. They are 
present in very many children. 

They prevent free nose breathing by 
clogging the air passages, and may 
cause partial deafness by shutting 
up the opening of the tube leading 
from the throat to the ear. 

Abundant adenoid growths some¬ 
times injure the mind by pressing 
on the blood vessels leading to 
the brain. Frequent colds in the 
head, nasal tones, mouth breathing, 
projecting upper jaw, and inattention 
are some of the signs that adenoid 
growths are present. They are 
easily removed by a physician. 

The tonsils which are small use- ^ adenoids, 

less bodies, one on either side of the He kept his mouth 
tongue, sometimes become much 
enlarged. They should then be removed as they permit 
disease germs to enter through them to the blood. 

Effect of Alcohol on the Lungs. —The habitual use of alco- 





no 


AIR AND HEALTH 



hol in any form is liable to weaken the lungs so that disease 
germs can readily get a foothold in them. Pneumonia 
is not only more likely to attack a drinker than an 
abstainer, but is more likely to kill him. 

Much use of alco¬ 
holic drink renders 
the lungs an espe¬ 
cially easy prey to 
the bacteria of tu¬ 
berculosis. In many 
sanatoria for con¬ 
sumptives, there is 
a large number of 
patients who have 
been accustomed to 
use strong drink. 

The International 
Congress at Paris 
declared that one 

Fig. 75. —Vertical section through the head way to fight tubercu- 
to show adenoids. Arrows show the Josis is tO put down 
course of the air breathed through nose. ,, i* i i i 

the use of alcohol 
Tobacco and the Lungs.—Tobacco has a much less serious 
effect upon the lungs than alcoholic drink. Habitual 
users of tobacco, while young, have been known to gain 
one fourth less in chest girth during four years than those 
not using the weed. The smallness of the chest would, of 
course, prevent the full development of the lungs. 

In smoking cigarettes, the habit of inhaling the smoke 
is a bad one, because it allows the nicotine to get into the 


AIR AND HEALTH 


lii 


lungs. Here much more of it can be absorbed than in 
the throat and mouth, since the thin walled capillaries 
lie very near the surface on 
which the poison lodges. 

To show how quickly the 
Doison is absorbed into the 
blood, the following ex¬ 
periment maybe performed: 

The tobacco from three 
cigarettes is boiled a few 
minutes in a cup of water 
to draw out the nicotine. 

The poisoned water is then 
poured into a quart of pure 
water containing a small fish. 

The narcotic effect of the 
tobacco causes the fish to 
go to sleep in about twenty 

minutes, and about ten Fig. 76.—1 his fish died m a half 

hour from the poison of three 
minutes later death results. cigarettes being placed in its 

The poison of the tobacco swimming tank, 
passes into the fish through the gills on either side of 
the head. They consist of three or four stiff arches 
bearing fine threads of tissue filled with thin walled blood 
vessels. The gills are the breathing organs of the fish. 

Practical Questions 

1. Why Should you try to prevent dust in sweeping? 2. Why 
are rugs better than nailed-down carpets? 3. How much air do 
the lungs hold? 4. How much air is taken in by an ordinary 









112 


AIR AND HEALTH 


breath? 5. Why should all parts of your lungs be exercised? 
6. Why is tight clothing about the chest or waist harmful? 7. What 
is ventilation? 8. Give facts showing that impure air causes 
disease. 9. Why is it healthful to have a pan of water on the 
radiator or stove? 10. Explain how the school room may be 
ventilated. 11. Why does a lighted candle covered by a quart jar 
cease burning within a minute? 12. How should a sleeping room 
be ventilated? 13. What causes cold in the head? 14. What are 
adenoids? 15. What harm do they cause? 16. How does alcohol 
affect the lungs? 17. In what way does tobacco hurt the lungs? 
18. Describe the experiment showing how tobacco poison hurts a 
fish. 19. Why is it very injurious to inhale tobacco smoke? 20. 
Why may much use of tobacco by the young cause tuberculosis 
later? 

Suggestions for the Teacher 

The most important lesson a teacher can impress upon the pupils 
is the need of tresh air to maintain health. It might be well to set 
them to Working out the ventilation of their schoolhouse on the plan 
shown in Figure 73, or to have each prepare a similar diagram of the 
ventilating problem of his home. 


CHAPTER Xn 


CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 


Dead Parts and Waste Matter.—Portions of each cell in 
the body are constantly wearing out and dying. What¬ 
ever is dead must be removed from the system, so that it 
will not become clogged up. 

Considerable matter for food is taken by the blood to all 

regions of the body, where much of it is oxidized or burned 

to keep the body warm and furnish energy. The ashes 

resulting from the burning of 

this food must be taken away 

or the body would become 

filled up like a stove that was 

never raked or cleaned. 

How Ashes and Waste are 

Removed from the Body.— 

The ashes remaining from the 

burning of the food consist 

largely of carbon dioxide and 

water. The carbon dioxide is 

carried by the blood to the 

lungs, which throw it out in 

° ^ vessels in a kidney. 

breath. Some of the water 

is taken from the blood by certain glands in the skin 
which form the sweat, much water is also removed from 



DAV. PHYS. INT.—8 


113 



114 


CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 


the blood by the two kidneys lying back of the stomach. 
The kidneys also collect from the blood and discharge from 
the body the waste flesh. This comes from the worn-out 
and dead parts of any organ, and would poison the body 
if it were not carried away daily. 



Fia. 78.—A block out of the skin, a, dead part and d live part of tnc 
epidermis; e, sweat glands; n, nerve endings. Much enlarged. 


The liver also removes some waste from the blood and 
discharges it as part of the useful bile into the intestine 
The four chief organs, therefore, concerned in keeping the 
































CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 


115 


body clean within, are the lungs, liver, kidneys and 
skin. 

The Skin.—The skin is an elastic covering stretched 
over the muscles and fatty tissues. It is bound loosely 
to these by a threadlike network called connective tissue. 
The chief use of the skin is to support the sense organs of 
feeling, to regulate the temperature of the body and to 
protect the delicate parts lying beneath. 

The skin is made of two layers, each of which has a 
different use. The layer on the surface is known as the 
epidermis or scarf skin, while the deep layer is called the 
dermis or true skin. 

The Scarf Skin or Epidermis.—This portion of the skin 
contains no blood vessels, but in the deeper part are nerve 
endings for feeling. It is made of several layers of cells. 
The top ones are nearly flat, dry, dead and scaly, and are 
being constantly rubbed off. A frog or snake sheds the 
upper layer of its scarf skin in one piece three or four 
times a year. 

The chief use of the scarf skin is to protect the under¬ 
lying tender tissues and keep bacteria from entering the 
blood. In regions of the body where the skin is much in 
contact with hard objects, as on the palms of the hands 
and the soles of the feet, the scarf skin becomes very thick 
and hard. 

Corns.—Much pressure or friction on any part of the foot 
by a shoe is likely to produce a corn. This is a thickening 
of the epidermis in one spot, so that it presses on the tender 
true skin. 

One should never wear tight shoes, or those with narrow 


116 CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 

toes not allowing the foot to keep its natural shape. A 
corn once formed is difficult to remove. The use of a corn 
ring such as may be purchased from the druggist, to prevent 

entirely the pressure of 
the shoe on the tender 
spot, is a great relief. 
The occasional shaving 
off of the top of the 
corn with a clean knife 
after the foot has been 
soaked a few minutes in 
hot water, is a helpful 
remedy. 

Blisters and Warts.— 

Blisters are caused by 
any irritation such as 
continued rubbing or 
pinching. They are formed by a pushing out of the upper 
layer of the epidermis with a collection of lymph which 
oozed from the blood capillaries. Removing the 
cause will permit a cure to take place in a few 
days. 

Warts are overgrowths of the epidermis including an 
upgrowth of the true skin. Their cause is unknown. They 
are not produced by touching toads. Fortune tellers can¬ 
not remove them by saying words. They are easily re¬ 
moved by a physician. 

Tanning and Freckles.—Every one has some color in 
the skin. The red color is due to the blood in the vessels 
of the true skin, showing through the thin scarf skin. Any 



Fig. 79.—Corns on the two outer toes 
resulting from tight shoes. 




CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 


117 


exercise or emotion causing the gorging of these vessels 
in the cheeks, produces blushing. 

The brown hue of the skin results from a dark coloring 
matter known as 'pigment. This is present in many organs 
of the body. The pigment is conveyed into the deepest 
part of the scarf skin by the white blood corpuscles. Ex¬ 
posure to the sun causes these corpuscles to transfer an 
abundance of the pigment from the deeper tissues to the 
skin. When the corpuscles deposit the pigment in patches, 
freckles are formed. Some races, such as the African, have 
much more pigment in the skin than others. Sun baths 
are healthful. 

The True Skin.—This is thicker than the scarf skin and 
is of far more importance. It is richly supplied with nerves 
and blood vessels, and contains the sense organs of feeling, 
and the sweat glands. By means of all these structures, 
the true skin is able to help much in regulating the tempera¬ 
ture of the body. 

How the Body Heat is Regulated.—The temperature of 
the body is about ninety-eight degrees. It remains the 
same summer and winter when one is in health. The 
body will be just as warm in an ice house as in a hot room. 
This is due to the heat regulating machinery. 

In the presence of cold, the vessels of the skin lessen in 
size so that less blood can come to the surface to be cooled 
and to furnish sweat. The cold feeling on the skin is 
carried by nerves to the inner part of the body which 
sends orders by other nerves to make the muscles in the 
walls of the blood tubes squeeze up tighter. In warm 
weather, the vessels of the skin enlarge and receive much 


118 


CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 


blood SO that it may be cooled by the air touching the 
skin. At the same time this extra supply of blood at the 
surface enables the sweat glands to throw out a large 
amount of sweat. The drying up of this sweat cools the 
body, because the heat passes off into the air with the sweat. 

The Sweat Glands.—Each of the 2,500,000 sweat glands 

consists of a tube 
whose lower end is 
rolled up into a ball. 
The openings of the 
tubes on the surface 
of the body are the 
'pores. These appear 
under a common 
magnifying glass as 
little pits on the 
ridges in the palms 
of the hands. The 
real gland is deep in 
the true skin and is 
surrounded by cap- 

Fig. 80. —The amount of solid waste matter .... » ... 

given out in the sweat daily. lHaries from which 

it gets the salty 
water and small amount of solid matter to make the sweat. 

The sweat glands are scattered throughout the skin of 
the entire body. Hard work on a very warm day may 
make them give out three quarts of sweat, but the average 
amount of sweat brought forth daily is only one pint. 
The sweat often called perspiration contains a little waste 
matter but its chief use is to cool the body. 




CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 


119 


Keeping the Skin Clean.—Many people wash their hands 
and face several times daily, because they are soiled by 
dust and dirt easily seen. Much of the waste matter 
thrown out by the glands over the entire surface of the 
skin cannot be seen, but unless it is washed off at least 
once or twice a week, the person is likely to have an un¬ 
pleasant odor. As some parts of the body, such as the 
feet, have much excretion given out by the glands, they 
should be washed daily. 

The hands should always be thoroughly washed by using 
soap and hot water, just before eating or handling food 
to avoid germs of disease. The habit of cleanliness is one 
of the many good habits which everyone should form while 
young. If the hands become chafed or rough, a little 
glycerine or cold cream rubbed on them once or twice 
daily after washing will be helpful. 

Bathing.—Bathing is useful not only for the sake of 
cleanliness, but for making the body strong and healthy. 
A cold bath taken as soon as one is out of bed in the morn¬ 
ing is very helpful to most people, in preventing colds and 
increasing the appetite. It wakes up the nervous system, 
makes the heart work faster, and the lungs take in fuller 
breaths. The room should be warm and the water should 
have a temperature of sixty or seventy degrees. The cold 
plunge or shower bath should not last longer than one minute. 

If no tub or shower is convenient for use, two or three 
minutes may be spent in applying cold water to the body 
with a sponge or towel while standing in a pan or bowl to 
receive the drippings. As soon as the cold bath is finished, 
the body should be well rubbed with a coarse towel. 


120 


CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 



Fig. 81.— Fingers with nails properly 
cared for. 


The Complexion.—The 
color of the skin may 
vary much, but in health 
it should be smooth and 
soft. If pimples and 
blackheads occur, it is 
because some organs of 
the body are not doing 
their work properly. A 
breaking out on the skin 
of babies and also older 
persons is often due to 
improper care of the 
digestive organs. The 
condition may some- 


The Hot Bath.— 

Babies, invalids and 
some others who cannot 
use a cold bath, may 
have a hot bath. This 
is also stimulating but 
does not prevent colds. 
One should not go into 
the cold out door air, in 
less than an hour after 
a hot bath, as a cold may 
result. It is generally 
best, therefore, to take 
the hot bath at bed time. 


Fig. 82.—Fingers showing the results 
of chewing off the ends of the nails. 
Drawn from life. 







CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 


121 


times be helped by eating less meat and sweets, by 
chewing the food more thoroughly, and by taking plenty 
of exercise and fresh air. 

The Nails.—The nails are made from a hardened part 
of the epidermis. When properly cared for they add much 
to the usefulness and appearance of the hand. Biting 
the ends of the nails off makes blunt and unshapely fingers. 
The ends of the nails should be filed Jiair 
off daily or cut weekly. The dirt 
should be removed from beneath them 
each time after washing the hands, 
and not when it is in a dry state. 

The Hair.—The base of each hair 
is held in a little sac formed by the 
dipping down of the epidermis. At 
its bottom is a tiny knob from which 
a new hair grows when the old one is 
pulled out or drops away. By the 
side of the hair sac are one or two 
oil glands, giving out an oily fluid 
into the sac near its top. This keeps 
the hair soft. No other hair oil 
should ever be used. 

To avoid dandruff, the scalp should 
be thoroughly washed with soap and 

warm water once or twice a month. . 

Fig. 83.—A section 

The hair should be dried before going through the root of 
out of doors in the cold. The hair a hair; s, oil gland; 
should be combed daily, or whenever Tr’cmtS the'h^ir 

it becomes untidy. grows. 









122 


CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 


Gray Hair and Baldness.—After middle life the coloring 
matter often leaves the hair, and it then becomes gray, 
because the hollow center is filled with air. There is no 
way of preventing this. Hair dyes should not be used. 
Some of them contain poison. 

Baldness often occurs after the age of forty. None of 
the much advertised preparations- will prevent baldness. 
Daily massaging or pinching and rolling of the scalp be¬ 
tween the fingers for a few minutes will keep the glands 
and blood vessels active, and thus prevent baldness in 
some cases. 

Bruises and Cuts.—A bruise is a swelled and bluish- 
colored spot on the skin caused by a blow from something 
not sharp. The swelling is due to the lymph or watery 
part of the blood which has oozed through the walls of 
the hurt blood tubes. The best remedy is to apply a 
cloth wrung out of very hot or very cold water. It should 
be changed every three or four minutes for a half hour or 
more. 

A cut is a break in the skin. Even a slight cut, especially 
if the flesh is torn, may result in a serious sickness, such as 
lockjaw or blood poisoning. A wound is made sore and 
white matter called pus produced by bacteria. Every 
cut or break in the skin should, therefore, be carefully 
washed with water and cloths which have been boiled to 
kill the germs. Some germ killer, such as turpentine, 
alcohol or weak carbolic acid, may then be poured into the 
cut, after which it should be protected by several thick- 
nessess of a clean cloth. 

It was Lord Lister, an Englishman, who discovered in 


CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 


123 


1870 the method of preventing wounds from getting sore 
and resulting in blood poisoning. Before his discovery it 
was common for injured persons to lie in the hospitals 
day after day while 
they were slowly being 
eaten up, or poisoned by 
germs. By the use of 
germ killers to cleanse 
the wounds and clean 
cotton to keep out the 
germs, ten times as 
many seriously wound¬ 
ed persons are saved 
from death as before 
the discovery of Lister. 

Burns and Scalds.— 

A good remedy for 
burns and scalds is 
carron oil. This is made 
by shaking together in 
a quart jar a half pint of lime water and the same amount 
of linseed oil. A clean cloth, folded several times and 
soaked with carron oil, should be bound at once upon the 
injured place. Cloths spread with vaseline, or wet with 
kerosene and applied to the burn, give great relief. Baking 
soda, moistened to form a paste, and spread on the injured 
part also relieves the pain. 

Alcohol and the Kidneys.—It has already been shown 
that the kidneys are important organs in removing from 
the body what would clog its parts and poison the entire 



Fig. 84.—Lord Lister whose discovery 
showing how to keep bacteria out of 
wounds, saves thousands of lives 
yearly. 


1^4 CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 

system. It is important therefore, that they should always 
be in a healthy condition. 

The habitual use of beer, whisky, or wine generally pro¬ 
duces a change for the worse in the working power of the 
kidneys. This change comes on so gradually in those 
accustomed to the use of alcoholic drinks, that the organs 
are often seriously sick before the victim feels much ill. 

Long continued use of alcohol, even that in such weak 
drinks as beer, often causes part of the kidney tissue to be 
changed to a fatty substance, and part to become hardened. 
The whole kidney may shrink. It is no longer able to do 
its work properly and so fails to remove certain wastes 
from the blood. This may result in rheumatism, or a 
more serious ailment, known as Bright^s disease. 

The cells of the kidney, even in those who use strong 
drink only moderately, sometimes become sick and let 
part of the albumin, which is a body food in the blood, 
escape with the waste matter. This condition is often 
present for a year or more before the drinker is aware of 
it. He feels weak, dislikes work, and finally becomes 
ill enough to consult a physician when it is too late to save 
his life. 

How Alcohol Prevents Keeping the Body Warm.—It has 

been pointed out that one of the chief uses of the skin is to 
regulate the temperature of the body. This is done by 
changing the size of the blood vessels. The size is governed 
by the nerves causing the loosening of the circular muscles 
in the walls of the blood tubes. Alcoholic drink even in 
small quantity acts on the nerves in such a way as to 
make the blood vessels of the skin enlarge. This allows 


CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 


125 


much blood to come to the surface of the body where it 
is quickly cooled. 

After a drink of liquor in cold weather, the body feels 
warmer, because a large amount of blood is sent to the skin 
where the sense organs of 
heat are located. In reality 
the body becomes colder as a 
thermometer will show. This 
is why drinkers freeze to death 
more quickly than abstainers. 

Experience of Sir John Ross 

with Narcotics.—Ross, in an 

account of his trip to the Arctic Fig. 85.—The blood vessels of 

regions, says: ‘T was twenty which alcohol en¬ 

larges. 

years older than any of the 

officers or the crew, yet I could stand the cold better 
than any of them, who all made use of tobacco and 
spirits. I entirely abstained from them. The most 
irresistible proof of the value of abstinence was when 
we abandoned our ship, and were obliged to leave behind 
us all our wine and spirits. It was remarkable to observe 
how much stronger and more able the men were to do 
their work when they had nothing but water to drink.” 

Alcohol and the Skin.—In some persons quite small 
doses of alcohol taken daily are sufficient to cause changes 
in the skin. The blood channels are widened, the circula¬ 
tion becomes slower, the working of the glands is inter¬ 
fered with, and eruptions or pimples may appear. 

The prolonged and steady use of alcoholic drink causes 
the blood vessels of the skin to remain permanently em 



126 


CLEANLINESS AND WARMTH 


larged, and thus produce a redness. The flushed face 
of a drinker in cold weather may take on a dull leaden hue, 
or a purple bloated look, due to the widened and gorged 
blood vessels. A roughness of the skin sometimes occurs 
as a result of failure to throw off the dead epidermis. 

Practical Questions 

1 . What would be the result if dead matter were not removed 
from the body? 2. Of what does the ashes of burnt food chiefly 
consist? 3. What do the kidneys remove? 4. What are the four 
chief organs removing waste from the body? 5. Of what use is 
the skin? 6. Give the two parts of the skin. 7. Describe the 
scarf skin. 8. How are corns produced? 9. What is a blister? 
10. What causes freckles and tanning? 11. Describe the true 
skin. 12. Wiiat is the temperature of a healthy body? 13. How 
is the body temperature kept constant? 14. Describe a sweat 
gland. 15. Of what use is sweat? 16. What care should be 
taken in keeping the skin clean? 17. Why should a cold bath be 
taken every morning? 18. What may cause a rough or pimply 
face? 19. Describe what care should be given the nails. 20. How 
is a hair fastened in the skin? 21. What will help stop the falling 
out of the hair? 22. Give the treatment for a bruise. 23. What 
care should be given a cut? 24. Describe the remedy for burns 
and scalds. 25. How does alcohol affect the kidneys? 26. How 
does alcohol affect the skin? 

Suggestions for the Teacher 

During the study of this chapter the teacher should impress upon 
the pupils the importance of keeping themselves neat and clean. 
It is often necessary to give special directions in regard to caring for 
the hair, hands and nails. The numerous cases of sickness due to 
touching food with unclean hands, shows the need of washing 
before eating or handling food. 


CHAPTER XIII 


CLOTHING AND COLDS 

Need of Clothing.—The clothing protects the body from 
the burning rays of the sun in summer and from cold in 
winter. It also serves as an ornament. Most people 
wear too heavy clothing during both summer and winter. 
In summer too much clothing makes one uncomfortable, 
and in the winter it may cause colds. It is almost as im¬ 
portant to wear the right kind of clothing as to eat the 
proper kind of food. 

Kinds of Clothing.—The four chief kinds of material 
out of which clothing is manufactured are linen, cotton, 
wool and silk. The flax plant 
supplies the threads required for 
the linen manufactured into shirts, 
collars and cuffs. The cotton plant 
furnishes the fibers used in mak¬ 
ing calico, muslin and other cotton 
goods. Wool sheared from sheep 
is woven into woolen cloth for 
wraps, overcoats and cloth suits. 

The silk worm changes mulberry 
leaves into fine silk thread used in 
making ribbons, neckties and silk 

dresses. Fig. 86.—The flax plant 

Clothing and Sweat.—Sweat is 
constantly oozing out on the surface of the body and is 
absorbed by the clothing next to the skin. The under 



127 




128 


CLOTHING AND COLDS 


clothing, therefore, soon becomes soiled and needs to be 
washed at least once or twice weekly. At night it should 
be hung up in the room so that 
the air can dry and purify it. 

Sweat is formed to cool the 
body, but it cannot do this un¬ 
less it soaks through the cloth¬ 
ing to the air, so as to carry off 
the heat. On this account cot¬ 
ton underclothing should be 
worn in summer. Cotton absorbs 
sweat much faster than wool 
and passes it outward toward 
the air. A newspaper or a rubber coat forms a very warm 
covering because they do not permit the sweat to be 
evaporated or the heat to pass outward from the body. 

Clothing for Warmth.—Woolen cloth is much warmer 
than cotton or linen, because it is more loosely woven and 
thus contains air. This prevents the heat from passing off 
from the body. Woolen underclothing is therefore better 
for very cold weather, especially for the old and those who 
exercise but little. 

Lately loose-meshed cotton undergarments have been 
manufactured in such a way as to hold much air and also 
absorb the sweat. Such clothing may be worn by well 
persons both summer and winter. They should, however, 
protect the body from severe cold by outer wraps. 

How Clothing Causes Cold.—Outer wraps and over¬ 
coats should always be removed by persons entering a 
warm room. If they are not laid off, the body becomes 



Fig. 87.—The silk worm and 
its cocoon 50,000 of which 
are required to make a silk 
dress. 




CLOTHING AND COLDS 


* 129 


covered with sweat which begins to pass off rapidly as 
soon as one is out in the wind. The body then feels cold 
and is likely to become chilled. For the same reason 
heavy clothing should be taken off when one is exercising. 

Some persons wear no overcoat during very cold weather, 
except when riding. This may usually be done with safety 
if one accustoms his body gradually to the cold, but to 
leave off the accustomed outer wrap when exposed to 
severe cold is likely to make one sick. The change from 
heavy clothing in winter to light weight garments or low- 
necked dresses often worn at parties, is a common cause 
of colds, bronchitis and pneumonia. Except in severe 
cold weather the throat, however, should not be bundled 
up in furs or muffler, as it may lead to catarrh. 

Other Causes of Colds.—The over heated room is a com¬ 
mon cause of colds. The temperature of a room should 
range from sixty-four to sixty-eight degrees. The heat 
of the room causes the clothing to become moist with sweat, 
which when one goes out in the wind, quickly evaporates 
and chills the body. The activity of certain parts of the 
body concerned in warding off colds is also weakened so 
the system is overcome by the least chilling. 

Many children catch severe colds by exercising until 
they are warm and then sitting down to cool off. Except 
in the very warmest weather, one should always put on 
an extra wrap immediately after exercising and not wait 
until he feels cool. 

Serious colds are frequently contracted by sitting in 
damp clothing. Moisture conducts the heat away from 
the body quickly. When the clothes are wet, one must 


130 


CLOTHING AND COLDS 


keep exercising or put on heavy wraps to keep warm until 
dry garments can be secured. 

The Catching of Colds.—Smallpox, diphtheria and scar¬ 
let fever are known as catching or contagious diseases. 
Late discoveries show that even a cold may be con¬ 
tagious. 

Nansen and his men were in the arctic regions for 
more than three years, and v/ere exposed to severe cold 
weather. On some occasions after getting into their sleep¬ 
ing bags, they had to thaw’ out their frozen clothing by 
the heat of their own bodies, before they could go to 
sleep; and yet not one of the number suffered from a cold 
until they arrived in Norway. Here civilization permit¬ 
ted certain bacteria to reach them and caused an epi¬ 
demic of colds. 

How to Stop Colds.—It is often possible to know when 
one is beginning to take cold. There is a chilly feeling, 
a slight heaviness m the head, a roughness in the throat or 
a watery discharge from the nose. The cold may some¬ 
times be stopped in this stage by taking a hot bath before 
going to bed and drinking some hot, weak tea or lemonade. 
One should keep very warm, stay indoors and rest. The 
food should consist of hot milk, broth, soft boiled eggs 
and fruit. 

Caring for a Cold.—^After a cold has been in progress 
two or three days there is no way of curing it at once- 
By care, however, the period of its duration may be very 
much shortened. One should be very w’armly clad and 
if possible avoid going out in the wind. If necessary to 
leave the house in cold weather, the ears and throat must 


CLOTHING AND COLDS 


131 


be covered and the entire surface of the body kept warm 
to keep too much blood from the inner parts. 

The sleeping room should not be very cold, but should be 
w”cll ventilated. Both the feet and head must be kept 
warm. A cold cannot be cured by medicines but if the 
system is out of order, a medicine may help to right it 
and thus aid the body in curing the cold. Never use the 
much advertised cough medicines. Many contain chloro¬ 
form or poisons that will harm the body. 

Keeping the Feet Dry.—One of the common causes of 
sickness is wet feet. No one should sit still with wet feet. 
Keep exercising until dry stockings 
and shoes can be secured. Rain¬ 
proof shoes or rubber overshoes are 
necessary during the wet season. 

Shoes to be made rain proof must be 
oiled weekly. Overshoes should 
always be removed upon entering a 
room as they do not permit the 
sweat to escape. 

Relation of Clothing to Alcohol.— 

In the bleak winter days the la¬ 
borer and especially the driver feel 
cold unless clad from head to foot 
in proper clothes. These men take 
a drink of whisky because it makes 
them feel warm. It really makes 
their body become colder, because 
alcohol makes the tiny vessels in the 
skin enlarge. This act lets more 



Fig. 88.—A sensible 
shoe, which does not 
squeeze the foot. 



Fig. 89.—An uncom¬ 
fortable shoe, giving 
an awkward gait and 
producing corns. 



132 


CLOTHING AND COLDS 


blood come to the surface, where the cold air quickly 
cools it. The whole body becomes chilled and severe 
sickness may result. It is therefore dangerous to make 
whisky take the place of warm clothing. 

Practical Questions 

1. Name several kinds of clothing. 2. Why should clothing 
worn next to the skin be washed frequently? 3. Why should 
cotton underclothing be worn in summer? 4. Why is woolen 
clothing warmer than cotton? 5. How may a cold be caused by 
clothing? 6. How are colds often caught? 7. How may colds 
sometimes be stopped? 8. Why should the skin be kept warm 
to prevent a cold from becoming worse? 9. How may a cold 
sometimes be stopped? 10. Explain how a cold should be cared 
for. 11. Why cannot alcohol take the place of clothing? 12. Why 
should you not use the advertised cough medicines? 13. Why is 
it dangerous to sit with wet feet? 14. Why should high-heeled 
shoes not be worn? 15. When should overshoes be worn? 

The fact that damp garments are likely to be the cause of sick¬ 
ness by taking the heat rapidly away from the body may be shown 
in the following manner: Fill two warm bottles of the same size 
with hot water. Wrap one in a dry handkerchief and the other 
in a wet handkerchief. After a half hour, test with the finger and 
note the one in the wet cloth is cold while the other is still warm. 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE BONES 


The Use of the Bones.—The bones of the body are 
used for its support, and also to help it move. The 
muscles which are made to act by the nerves, pull on the 
bones so as to move them in 
any direction one may wish. 

The bones shield from outward 
injury the important organs 
such as the brain, spinal cord, 
lungs and heart. All of the 
red blood corpuscles, and 
many of the white ones, are 
made in the red bone marrow 
which fills the many small 
spaces in the inside of the 
bones. 

Arrangement of the Bones.— 

There are over two hundred 
bones in the body. These, 
joined together in their natural 
relations, form the bony frame¬ 
work called the skeleton. The 
parts of the skeleton are the 
skully or bones of the head, 
the trunk, and the extremities. 

133 



Fig. 90.—Upper p;irt of the 
skeleton: i, mandible; s, 
sacrum; t, b”east-bone or 
sternum; v, vertebrae. 




134 


THE BONES 


As the bones in the skeleton of a dog or cat have about 
the same form and relations as those of man, the bones 
of these animals often found in the woods or fields may 
be used for study. 

Bones of the Head.—The skull, formed by the bones of 
the head, is at birth quite incomplete on the sides and top. 
In these places there are spaces where only membrane 
separates the brain from the skin. These spaces are not 
entirely closed with bone until the end of the second year. 
It is possible, therefore, to cause the death of a baby by 
a slight stroke on the head. 

The Bones of the Skeleton 


The Skull 


or 

Bones 
of the 
Head 


Bones of the 
Trunk 


Cranium 


Face 


sphenoid 1 
frontal 1 
parietal 2 
temporal 2 
occipital 1 
ethmoid 1 
nasal 2 

inferior turbinated 2 
lachrymal 2 
maxilla or upper jaw 2 
mandible or lower jaw 1 
palate 2 

malar or cheek bone 2 
vomer 1 
hyoid 1 


Spinal column 
or backbone 


Other bones of 

9M. 


vertebra 24 
sacrum 1 
coccyx 1 

sternum or breast bone 1 
ribs 24 

innominate or hip bone 2 






THE BONES 


135 



Shoulder girdle i 

clavicle or collar bone 2 


\ 

Arm 

scapula or shoulder blade 2 
humerus 2 

Bones of the 

\ 

radius 2 

Upper 

Forearm ( 

ulna 2 

Extremity 

Wrist 

carpal 16 


Hand 

metacarpal 10 


Fingers 

phalanges 28 

Bones of the 

Leg 

femur or thigh bone 2 
tibia or shin bone 2 

fibula 2 

Lower Ex¬ 


patella or knee pan 2 

tremity 

Ankle 

tarsal 14 


Foot 

metatarsal 10 


Toes 

phalanges 28 


There are twenty-two bones in the skull, in addition to 
the six tiny bones of the ears. The eight bones surrounding 
the brain form the cranium^ while the other fourteen make 
up the face. The bony brain case is a quarter-inch thick. 

The Bones of the Trunk.—The trunk is made of the 
spinal columUj the ribs, the breastbone and the hip boms. 
These are so arranged as to protect well the internal organs. 
The spinal column or backbone is made of a chain of twenty- 
six bones. A canal extends from the top to the bottom 
of the backbone. This is nearly filled by the spinal cord. 

There are twelve pairs of ribs. Seven pairs called the 
true ribs are joined to the backbone, and also to the breast¬ 
bone in front. The five lower pairs of ribs are known as 
false ribs because they are not joined direct to the breast¬ 
bone 






THE BONES 





Fig. 91.—Lower part of the 
skeleton. 


The two outward flaring hip 
bones with the sacrum between 
them form a basin called the 
'pelvis. 

Bones of the Extremities.— 

The bones of the upper ex¬ 
tremity are of similar shape 
and arrangement to those of 
the lower extremity, with the 
exception of the flat shoulder 
blade or scapula on the back, 
and the collar bone or clavicle 
in front of 
the shoulder. 

A single bone, 
the humerusy 
reaching from 
the shoulder 
to the elbow, 
forms the 
arm, while 
two bones, 
called the 
ulna and the 


radius, reaching from the elbow to the 
wrist, make up the forearm, 

A long cylindrical bone, the femur or 
thigh hone, extends from the hip to the 
knee and a long strong bone, the tibia 
or shin bone, with a slender bone, the 


Fig. 92.—Forelimb 
of a dog. 








THE BONES 


137 


fibulxij reaches from the knee to the ankle. The wrist 
bones, called carpus, are eight in number, while there are 
seven bones named tarsus forming the ankle. A single 
bone of the wrist is called a carpal, and 
one of the ankle bones is a tarsal. 

Five bones are present in the palm of 
the hand, and the same number of bones 
are in the same part of the foot. There 
are three bones in each finger, and two 
in the thumb. There are also three bones 
present in each toe, except the great one 
which has only two. 

Structure of Bone.—Bone is made hard 
by salts of lime, but there are many soft 
living cells in the bone. By placing a 
bone, such as a rib of any animal, in 
strong vinegar or other weak acid, the 
lime salts may be eaten out. Within a 
week the bone will become as elastic as 
a green willow twig. 

Numerous channels extend through 
the bones for the purpose of lodging the 
nerves and blood vessels. The surface 
of bones is made of hard compact hone, 
while within is loose spongy hone. The ends 
of the long bones are nearly all spongy 
bone, while in the middle part is a cavity 
filled with soft white marrow. This gives 
lightness and much surface for the 
attachment of muscles. 




Fig. 93. —The 

thigh bone cut 
through the 
middle, b, hard 
bone; h and d, 
spongy bone; 
ma, marrow. 





138 


THE BONES 



Every bone is covered on the outside with a tough 
membrane called 'periosteum. This serves for the attach¬ 
ment of the ends of muscles. It is also able to grow new 
bone to take the place of that which may be destroyed. 

How the Bones 
Grow.—Most of the 
bones are at first 
in the form of a 
gristle called carti¬ 
lage. This may be 
easily bent and 
pressed out of shape. 
In the young child, 
since much of the 
cartilage is not yet 
changed into bone, 
the legs may become 
bent or bowed if it 
is allowed to stand 
too much. Even 
children of school 


Fig. 94.—Arm bones and breastbone of a sometimes make 
child twelve years of age. The parts the bones grow into 
have not yet grown together. ^ 

ting on seats so 
high that the feet cannot touch the floor, or by leaning 
over the desk so as to cause round shoulders. Everyone 
should form the habit of sitting up straight, of keeping 
the shoulders held back in walking, and the neck pressed 
back against the collar. 




THE BONES 


139 


Broken Bones.—A 

break in a bone is called 
a fracture. As the bones 
of children bend easily, 
they are seldom broken 
off completely, but are 
cracked somewhat like 
a tough stick when bent. 
Such an injury is known 
as a 'green-stick fracture. 
When the bone of an 
older person is broken, 
the ends usually sep- 



Fig. 96.—How a broken bone 
may pierce the flesh when 
not held in place. 



Fig. 95.—Proper position in school to 
prevent round shoulders. 

arate a little owing to the pull 
of the muscles. In order to 
set the bone properly the two 
ends must be brought together 
and held firmly in place by ? 
thin board or sheet of metal 
bandaged on the limb. 

First Care of a Broken Bone. 
—No one but a good surgeon 
is able to set a broken bone 
successfully. However, if a 
person with a fracture must be 
moved from the place of accident, 




1^0 


THE BONES 



broken bone of the arm in 
place until the doctor comes. 


it is wise to hold the broken 
bones in place by binding firmly 
on either side of the fracture, 
wrapped in clean cloth, a narrow 
board or flat stick. 

In young persons, broken bones 
usually knit together in three 
or four weeks, but in persons 
over sixty years of age, healing 
may require several months. 
The Joints.—The juncture 
Fig. 97.—The way to hold the of two or more bones is a 
joint, or articulation. The two 
general kinds of joints are the 
movable and the immovable. The immovable joints 
occur between the bones of the skull. The two important 
kinds of movable joints are 
the hall and socket i joint, 
like that at the shoulder 
and hip, and the hinge joint, 
as seen at the knee and 
elbow. 

In the movable joints, the 
ends of the bones are covered 
with a thin pad of gristle. 

Several tough bands of 
white stringy tissue called 
ligaments hold the bones in 
place and form a covering 
for the j oint. This covering 



Fig. 98.—Ball and socket joint 
at the shoulder. 







THE BONES 


141 


is lined with a tender membrane. It forms a thick fluid, 
like the white of egg. This is used to keep the joint 
moist and in smooth working condition. 

Strain and Sprain.—By bending a joint too far or push¬ 
ing the end of a bone to one side, the ligaments may be 
stretched or even torn. This 
results in swelling and ten¬ 
derness called a strain. 

A severe strain is a sprain. 

The best treatment to give at 
once, is to place the injured 
part in hot water or wrap it in 
cloths wrung out of very hot 
water, and change them every 
few minutes. At the end of a 
half-hour, the joint should be 
massaged by rubbing it toward 
the body, in order to move 
the collected lymph away to the 
veins. Unless the ligaments 
are torn, complete rest is not 
so helpful as careful exercise and frequent massaging. 

Dislocation of Bones.—When at a joint, the end of one 
bone is forced backward, forward or to one side of the 
other bone, so far that it does not slip back into place, it 
is said to be dislocated. The ligaments may be some¬ 
what tom or stretched. The patient should be placed in an 
easy position and a physician sent for at once, as the parts 
become very sore in a few hours. The bones at the knee and 
shoulder joints are the ones most frequently dislocated. 



Fig. 99.—A knee joint cut 
open from behind to show 
the ligaments, cp, ligament 
cut off at Ig. 





142 


THE BONES 


Effect of Alcohol and Other Narcotics on the Bones.— 

The blood furnishes the material out of which the bones 
are made. The blood receives its food for the body from 
the digestive system. The digestive system works prop¬ 
erly only when the nervous system, which governs it, is 
in good condition. Tobacco, alcoholic drinks, and other 
narcotics are known to affect seriously the nervous, diges¬ 
tive and circulatory systems. 

The organs removing the poisonous waste from the 
growing bones are often made unfit to perform their duties 
properly by the continued use of narcotics, especially 
those containing alcohol. This unremoved waste then 
affects the growing bones by slowing the living action of 
the cells. In many young persons, using much tobacco, 
the bones grow about one fourth slower than in healthy 
boys and girls. This fact has been clearly proved by 
many careful measurements of normal healthy boys, and 
those using tobacco regularly. 

Practical Questions 

1. Of what use are the bones? 2. Give the three parts of the 
skeleton. 3. Name the bones in the arm and forearm. 4. Name 
the bones of the leg. 5. How many bones in each toe and finger? 
6. Name the bones on the side of the head. 7. Of what is bone 
made? 8. What is the periosteum? 9. Why should you sit and 
walk erect? 10. What is a fracture? 11. Describe the first care 
to be given a broken bone. 12. Name three kinds of joints. 13. 
Which joints allow motion in more than two directions? 14. 
What is a ligament? 15. What is a sprain? 


CHAPTER XV 


THE MUSCLES AND EXERCISE 


The Muscles Forming .the Lean Meat.—The rich red 
meat, called beefsteak, is made of muscle. The muscle 
of a person looks just like the muscle of a cow. All lean 
meat is muscle. With the exception of the bones, skin, 
and digestive organs, the body is composed chiefly of mus¬ 
cle, with blood vessels and nerves running through it. 
This muscle substance is not one undivided mass, but is 
made of about 500 distinct parts, each of which is known 
as a muscle. 

The Nature of a Muscle.—A muscle is made of fine 
threads celled fibers. 

These are held to¬ 
gether by a fine, web 
like connecting tis¬ 
sue. The muscle 
fibers are made to 
shorten and thicken 
by an order sent to 
them through the 
nerves. When the 
fibers become 
shorter this makes 
the whole muscle 
shorter. The short¬ 
ening of a muscle is contraction and the lengthening ol 
it is known as the relaxing. 



Fig. 100.—Fine threads of fibers forming 
a muscle. Much enlarged. 


143 









144 


MUSCLES AND EXERCISE 


When a muscle has one end 
fixed at the shoulder and the 
other end fastened to a bone of 



Fig. 101.—How the muscle thickens 
when it shortens to draw up the heel. 

the forearm the shortening or 
contraction of the muscle pulls 
the forearm upward. In a similar 
way, the movements of the fingers, 
legs and toes are produced by the 
contraction of various muscles. 

Arrangement of Muscles.— 
Both ends of a muscle are not 



Fig. 102.—The extensor 
muscles on the back of 
the forearm. Note the 
tendons at the wrist. 
From a photograph. 


attached to the same bone, but each end is fixed to a different 
bone, so that a contraction of the muscle must move one of 


















MUSCLES AND EXERCISE 


145 


the bones. So some of the muscles extend from the 
humerus to the fingers, and others from the hip bone to 
below the knee. 

The muscles act like levers. 

That is one part of the bone, 
usually the end or a place near the 
end, is held fast in a joint, while 
the muscle is fixed to another 
part. The triceps muscle is fixed to 
the elbow end of the ulna, and 
pulls it up so as to force the other 
end down, as when one strikes the 
hand on the table. Pulling on the 
biceps muscle SitiSiohed in front of 
the elbow brings the forearm up. 

Notice that this muscle grows 
thicker as it shortens. 

Very often the muscle fibers 
are not fixed directly to the 
bone, but to a cord of tough 
white fibers, called a tendon which 
is joined to the bone. The hard 
cords felt in the wrist, when the 
fingers are moved, are tendons. 

On the back of the hand, three 
or four tendons may also be felt, 
and the skin seen to be pushed 
out by them when the fingers are Fig. 103.—Muscles on the 
worked. The largest is the tendon of 

° '' the white cords, the ten 

Achilles, attached to the heel bone, dons at the wrist. 








14G 


MUSCLES AND EXERCISE 


Kinds of Muscles. —The muscles forming the lean meat 
are called voluntary muscles, because one can move them 
whenever he wishes. Another set of muscles is named 
involuntary, because the will has no control over them. 

These muscles help form the walls of 
nearl)^ all tubes in the body. They 
regulate the size of the blood vessels 
and cause the movements of the stomach 
and the intestines. 

The involuntary muscles are made 
of short, spindle shaped cells. The 
alcohol drinker cannot prevent the 
lengthening of these muscles in the 
blood vessels of the skin, causing it to 
become red. No one can prevent the 
movement of these muscles in the 
stomach after food enters, nor can one 
stop the beating of the heart. These 
muscles are made to act by a set of 
nerves called sympathetic, which do 
not obey our will. 

Kinds of Voluntary Muscles. —There 
are two chief kinds of voluntary mus- 
Fig. 104.—Muscles (>les. One kind is called flexor muscles 

ho^theyptMtato because they bend a limb, while the 
tendons at the an- other is known as extenscyr muscles 
because they straighten a limb. Sev¬ 
eral flexor muscles lie on the palm side of the hand and 
ieto, and also on the back of the leg. Important extensor 
muscles lie on the back of the hand and arm, and on the 





MUSCLES AND EXERCISE 


147 


front of the leg. Flexor muscles bend the fingers, arms, 
legs, and toes, and extensor muscles pull them straight. 

Muscles of Expression.—The score of muscles controlling 
the eyes, mouth and other features of the face are the 
muscles of expres¬ 
sion. On their action 
depends largely 
whether one has a 
pleasing or ugly coun¬ 
tenance. In one who 
is accustomed to 
pout, frown or cry 
about every trifle or 
annoyance, the mus¬ 
cles become so trained 
to pulling down the 
corners of the mouth, 
pushing out the lips, 
and wrinkling the 
forehead, that the 
face can never have a 
pleasant look. 

Need of Exercise.—To exercise the muscles means to 
use them. No boy or girl can have a strong, well formed 
body unless the muscles are exercised. Every time a 
muscle is moved, the vessels in it enlarge and allow more 
blood to flow with the food to make the muscle grow. 

Exercise is also of great service in pressing the lymph 
with its waste matter out of its chinks and crevices into 
the lymph channels. The pressure of the muscles as they 




Fig. 105.—Using 
the pouting mus¬ 
cles. 


Fig. 106.—Using 
the muscles for a 
pleasant expres¬ 
sion. 








148 MUSCLES AND EXERCISE 

contract, squeezes on the lymph and blood vessels, so as to 
help the circulation. Since the whole body has its waste 
carried away and an abundance of life-giving oxygen 
supplied by exercise, one always 
feels better after a vigorous walk 
or the playing of an outdoor 
game. 

How to Exercise.—Since nearly 
every one is obliged to do some 
walking, certain muscles of the 
legs are sure to get some exer¬ 
cise. In ordinary walking, how¬ 
ever, less than one half of the 
hundred muscles in the legs are 
brought into use. To get the 
best exercise out of walking 
one must walk as fast as possi¬ 
ble, and let the arms swing to 
and fro at the sides. The chin 
should be held in, the chest pushed out, and the neck 
thrown back against the collar. 

A regular period of one or two hours should be devoted 
to exercise every day. Boys and girls who live on the 
farm or have gardens to care for, may bring into use nearly 
all the muscles in attending to the various duties about 
the home. The muscles least likely to get the proper exer¬ 
cise and the ones needing it most are those of the chest. 

Cause of Round Shoulders and Flat Chests.—The lungs 
cannot be kept strong and healthy without being fully 
expanded. There must be plenty of space in the chest 



Fig. 107.—One way to 
exercise. 





MUSCLES AND EXERCISE 


149 


cavity to let them expand. The size of the chest will 
depend upon the exercise of the lungs and the muscles of 
the chest. Very few duties in life call these muscles into 
vigorous use. They 
are, therefore, often 
weak and when one 
sits down they per¬ 
mit the shoulders 
to droop, the head 
to bend forward, and 
the chest to be pushed 
inward. Even in 
standing a similar po¬ 
sition is often taken. 

Preventing Round 
Shoulders and Flat 
Chests.—Weak lungs 
can often be avoided, 
and many of the 
quarter-million 
deaths in this country 
from lung diseases 
prevented by proper exercise. The practice of taking in full 
breaths, for a few minutes each day, when out in the open 
air should become a habit. This enlarges the chest. This 
exercise will be still more effective if, while the lungs are 
full of air, the chest is beat lightly with the hand. Ten or 
fifteen minutes daily should be spent in swinging the arms 
upward and downward, and forward, outward and back¬ 
ward until the hands meet in front and behind the back. 



Fig. 108 .—Note in the figure on the left 
how lack of use of the breathing muscles 
tends to cause round shoulders and a 
flat chest. 




150 


MUSCLES AND EXERCISE 


Forming the habit of sitting erect at a table or desk, 
and of walking with the shoulders well thrown back will 

do much to devel¬ 
op a well-formed 
body and promote 
health. 

The Best Games 
for Exercise.—Ex¬ 
ercise can do much 
more than medi¬ 
cine to give good 
health. It is al¬ 
most as important 
to play as to work. 
Games like cards, 

checkers and dom- 
PiG. 109.—Graceful and ungraceful attitudes , i x 

in standing. The latter causes round ‘““es may help to 
shoulders and weak lungs. keep boys and 

girls, and even older persons, out of mischief, but they 
db not make the body strong and ready for the great work 
of life like games played in the open air, calling into use 
the muscles. 

’'•'Swimming, rowing and running are excellent forms of 
exercise, but they must not be carried to excess. Baseball, 
shinny and skating are also splendid games for bringing 
into use many muscles. Tennis, however, is the best 
game of all for exercising the largest number of muscles, 
hnd especially those of the chest. When games cannot 
be played in the open air, the gymnasium offers many 
helpful forms of exercise which both boys and girls should 








MUSCLES AND EXERCISE 


151 


use in helping to build strong bodies and insure long life 
and health. 

Tobacco and the Muscles.—Nicotine causes the involun¬ 
tary muscles of the small blood vessels to contract, and 
thus shut off some of the nourishment intended for the 
growth of the muscles. The habitual use of tobaccp 
affects the growth of the young in a very marked degree. 

At Yale College during four years the non-users of to¬ 
bacco gained one fourth more in height, and in the girth 
of the chest, than the habitual users of tobacco. Doctor 
Seaver, of New Haven, found on examining a large number 
of young men, that the tobacco users at 18 years of age 
were not so large and well developed as the non-users 
only 17 years old These facts show that the use of much 
tobacco, either 
by smoking or 
chewing, is quite 
certain to hinder 
the full growth of 
the muscles. 

Those who have 
had much expe- Fig. no. —Blood vessels of a muscle which are 
rience with boys affected by much use of tobacco. 

say that smokers are not able to control their muscles accu¬ 
rately, and that they can discover the tobacco users by 
noting the trembling of the hand when they try to hold 
it perfectly still or attempt to draw a straight line. 

How Alcohol Affects the Muscles.—Alcohol may stimu¬ 
late the muscles for a few minutes, somewhat in the same 
way that a whip urges forward a horse, but recent ex- 
























152 


MUSCLES AND EXERCISE 


periments all agree in showing that the daily amount of 
work accomplished by men using alcohol is always less 
than that done by the total abstainers. On this account 
no athlete while in training makes use of whisky, wine or 
beer. Soldiers on forced marches are found to make better 
progress when denied the use of alcohol and given beef tea. 
Brigadier General A. W. Greely says it should be strongly 
urged that no alcoholic drink be used by soldiers under¬ 
going great physical hardship and continued exhausting 
labor. 


Practical Questions 

1. What is a muscle? 2. Of what is a muscle made? 3. Tell 
something about the arrangement of muscles. 4. What is a tendon? 
5. What action has a muscle? 6. Name two kinds of muscles. 
7. Where are the involuntary muscles found? 8. Where are the ex¬ 
tensor muscles on the arm? 9. What is the use of flexor muscles? 
10. What makes a muscle become strong? 11. Why does exer¬ 
cise make one feel good? 12. Why do many persons have round 
shoulders? 13. How may flat chests be prevented? 14. Name 
some good forms of exercise. 15. Give facts showing that tobacco 
injures muscles. 16. What shows that alcohol does not help the 
muscles do good work? 

Suggestions for the Teacher 

During the study of this Chapter, a special effort should be made 
by the pupils to learn how to stand properly and walk gracefully. 
A few minutes daily exercise directed by the teacher will do much 
to correct the drooping shoulders and awkward shuffling gait 
common to many school children. 


CHAPTER XVI 


BOW THE BODY IS GOVERNED 

Need of a Manager.—^There are over five hundred sep¬ 
arate organs in the body, each having a distinct duty to 
perform. Every muscle and every gland has a special 
work, but all the organs must act together in harmony 
to keep the body in health. For accomplishing this a 
general manager is needed to direct the work. This mana¬ 
ger is the nervous system, which tells each organ when to 
act and how much work to do. 

If there were no nervous system, the muscles could not 
be made to move the body, or the stomach to digest the 
food. When one takes a bite of food an order comes by 
the nerves to the salivary glands to make saliva and send 
it out into the mouth. A moment later other orders are 
given for digestive juices to flow into the stomach. Thus 
the right work is done at the right time and in the right 
place by the managers command. 

Parts of the Nervous System.—The nervous system 
is made of three parts: 1. The brain, located in the skull; 
2. the spinal cord, hanging in the inch-wide canal of the 
spinal column; 3. the nerves which appear like white cords 
extending from the brain and spinal cord outward as they 
divide into finer branches throughout the body fhe 
brain and spinal cord give orders and the nerves carry 
these orders to the organs (Fig. 111). 


163 



Fig. 111.—Part of the nervc»iis system viewed from in front. 


154 













HOW THE BODY IS GOVERNED 


155 


Structure of the Nervous System.— A slice cut across the 
brain or spinal cord shows that part of the nerve substance 
is white and part is gray. The gray matter is made of 
tiny irregular masses called cell bodies, while the white 
matter is formed of fine 
threads named nerve fibers. 

These fibers are fastened to the 
cell bodies and are, therefore, 
true parts of them. 

A complete nerve cell consists 
of a cell body with from two 




to a dozen fine threads called Fig. 112.—A slice across the 
, 1 . . £ ., brain to show white and 

'processes extending out irom it. matter 

One of these processes is often 

from one to three feet in length. This long process is 
a nerve fiber. A bundle of nerve fibers forms a nerve. 

The Nerves. —The bodies of the nerve cells are all located 
in the brain or spinal cord, or very near to these two parts. 
From these cell bodies, the processes extend to the face, 

the arms and the legs. 
Thousands of these pro¬ 
cesses at the under sur¬ 
face of the brain and 
along the spinal cord 
are collected into many 
bundles to form the 

Fig. 113 , — A nerve cell from the spinal nerveS (Fig. 115). 

cord. Much enlarged. The nerves connected 

with the brain are called cranial nerves. They pass 
through boles in the floor of the skull. The spinal nerves 


156 


HOW THE BODY IS GOVERNED 


are those joined to the spinal cord. A third set of nerves, 
branching throughout the body from some bunches of 
cell bodies along the front side of the backbone, are 
named sympathetic nerves (Fig. 117). 

How a Message Travels on a Nerve.—There are twc 
chief kinds of nerves. One kind called sending nerves carry 
messages from the brain and cord to the muscles and 
other organs to make them act. Another kind, known as 
the receiving nerves, carry messages of seeing, hearing 
and feeling from various parts of the body to the spinal 
cord and brain. The message telling that the finger is 
burnt or that an apple is sweet travels on a receiving nerve. 

Sometimes receiving nerve fibers and sending nerve fibers 
are bound together in the same bundle as in the spinal 
nerves. Messages may then travel side by side but in 
opposite directions as when a baseball is caught. The 

feeling of the ball as it 
touches the hand rushes up 
the receiving nerve fibers to 
the cord, which quick as light¬ 
ning sends a message down 
the sending nerve fibers to the 
muscles, making the hand 
close on the ball. A message 
travels so rapidly on a nerve 
that the news of a hurt toe 
can reach the brain in one half 

Fig. 114.-Some of the nerves of time between tWO ticks 
the face. 

of a watch. 

The Cranial Nerves.—There are twelve pairs of cranial 




now THE BODY IS GOVERNED 


157 


nerves joined to the base of the brain. One pair, the 
olfactory, extends to the nose, four pairs to the eyes, and 
one pair to the ears. The others are distributed to the 
head, neck and shoul¬ 
ders, with the exception 
of one pair which goes to 
the lungs and stomach. 

The Spinal Nerves.— 

There are 31 pairs of 
nerves joined to the 
spinal cord. Each of 
these nerves is united 
to the cord by two 
branches. The front 
one is called the sending 
root because the mes¬ 
sages sent by the brain 
or cord to make an or¬ 
gan act pass through 
this root. The back 
branch is named the receiving root as all news of heat, oold, 
pain and pressure pass through this root. 

Some of the spinal nerves such as those supplying the 
arms and legs are two or three feet long. The great sciatic 
nerve, which is nearly as large as a lead pencil and ex¬ 
tends down the back of the leg, is the largest nerve in 
the body. 

The Sympathetic Nerves. —On either side of the back¬ 
bone, and within the body cavity, is a chain of bunches 
of nerve cells. Several other similar bunches lie near the 





158 


HOW THE BODY IS GOVERNED 


stomach and also lower down in the body cavity. These 
bunches of nerve cells are called ganglia. These ganglia 
with the nerve fibers joining them and extending from 



Fig. 116 .—Diagram of a slice across the spinal cord, showing the roots 
of a spinal nerve to the arm on the left. The arrows show which way 
the messages travel. The little circles are the cut ends of fibers 
extending up and down the cord. Only a few of the thousands of 
fibers really present are here shown. 


them to the glands and involuntary muscles all over the 
body, form the sympathetic nervous system (Fig. 117). 

Use of the Sympathetic Nervous System.—The nerves of 
the sympathetic system supply the stomach, intestines, 
liver, pancreas, heart, lungs, and the muscles in the veins 
and arteries in all regions of the body. This system acts 
without our knowledge and cannot be controlled by our 
wishes. When food goes into the stomach, a message is 
received by the sympathetic system to make the gastric 
glands give out j uice to digest the food. When, by running, 
we use up the oxygen in the muscleS; it is the sympathetic 







now THE BODY IS GOVERNED 


150 



Fig. 117. —Part of 
the sympathetic 
nervous system 
seen from in 
front, n, one of 
the two chief 
cords; t, i, and 
Pj branches to 
the organs. 


system that tells the heart to beat 
faster and send more blood bear¬ 
ing the oxygen for .the hungry 
tissues. When we are 
hot, the sympathetic 
system orders the sweat 
glands to give out 
sweat to cool the body. 

The Spinal Cord.— 
This consists of a bun¬ 
dle of nerve fibers in¬ 
closing a column of cell 
bodies. The outer part 
of the cord therefore 
appears white, while 
the central H-shaped 
part is gray. The cord 
is about eighteen inches 
long and as large in diameter as 
the little finger. It is joined 
by 31 pairs of nerves which ex¬ 
tend to all parts of the body 
except the head. 

The spinal cord has two uses. 
It conducts messages between 
the brain and the nerves of the 
arms, legs, and trunk. It also 
acts independently of the brain 
and causes many of the mus¬ 
cular movements such as are 






















1(30 


HOW THE BODY IS GOVERNED 



required in walking thoughtlessly or in withdrawing the 
finger or foot from a sharp tack or burning object. Such 
performances are spoken of as reflex action. 

Reflex Action. —This is any 
action of the nervous sys¬ 
tem without the use of the 
will. Tickling the foot of the 

’I 


i<iG. 118.—How reflex action occurs. The pain caused by the tack t 
goes up the fiber a, and shifts off to the cell m which sends a message 
down from the muscle to move and draw away the finger. The 
message may also go up to the brain and down as shown. 




HOW THE BODY IS GOVERNED 


161 


soundest sleeper causes it to be moved, but the brain was 
asleep and did not act. The cell bodies in the cord aroused 
by the tickling sent a message to make the muscles move. 
The squirming of a snake with a mashed head, the jump¬ 
ing of a chicken with its head cut off, and the wriggling 
of the pieces of a freshly cleaned eel, placed in the hot 
frying pan, are reflex acts in which the brain has no part. 

Reflex action causes the hand stuck with a pin to be 
withdrawn before the brain can act. The pain travels up 
the nerve fiber of the arm and around through the spinal 
cord, exciting the cell bodies there to send a message out 
to the muscles to withdraw the arm. A fraction of a second 
later the brain feels the pain. The beating of the heart, 
breathing, the movements of the stomach or any other 
activity caused by the sympathetic system is reflex action. 

The Brain.—The brain almost completely fills the cavity 
of the cranium. The three main parts are: the cerebrum 
or great brain, the cerebellum or little brain and the medulla 
oblongata or stem of the brain, which joins the spinal cord. 

The brain, like the spinal cord, is made of both white 
and gray matter. That is, there are millions of cell bodies 
with their processes or nerve fibers extending from them 
and forming a thick, irregular network. The gray matter 
of the brain is largely on the outside, where it forms a 
layer an eighth of an inch thick, called the corto (Fig. 112). 

The Cerebrum or Great Brain.—This composes seven 
eighths of the entire brain. It is divided into halves, 
named hemispheres, by a deep cleft, the longitudinal fissure, 
extending from before, backward. The surface of the 
cerebrum is very uneven, as there are many folds separated 

DAV. PHYS. IMT.— 11 


1(52 


HOW THE BODY IS COVERNED 



by grooves an inch deep. The folds are known as con- 

volutions. They are for the 
purpose of giving a greater 
extent to the cortex on which 
intelligence in animal life in 
general depends. 

Fish; frogS; snakes, and 
birds have no folds in their 
cerebrum, while rabbits and 
cats have very few folds. In 
horses and monkeys, the 
cerebrum has many folds, 
but the number is less than 
in man. 

Use of the Cerebrum. —The 

cerebrum is the seat of the 
mind. It is the thinking 
organ. Different portions of it have different duties to 
perform. The middle 
part of the cortex is 
concerned in receiving 
the messages from the 
nerves of feeling and in 
directing the movements 
of the muscles. The 
back part of the cere¬ 
brum is used in seeing, 
and the part near the ear 

is used for hearing. The Fm. 120^Photograph of the brain 
° from the side, showing the use of its 

front part of the cortex parts. 


Fig, 


Vere- 
belluriL 

Cord 

119.—^The upper surface of 
the brain of a cat. 











HOW THE BODY IS GOVERNED 


163 


and some other portions of it, help us to think, but 
how it is done no one knows. 

Many nerve fibers connect the cerebrum with the other 
parts of the brain and with the spinal cord. Most of the 
nerve fibers from the right side of the cerebrum cross to 
the opposite side in the stem of the brain, so as to connect 
with the left half of the spinal cord. In this way the 
muscles on the left side of the body are controlled by the 
right half of the brain. Likewise the muscles on the right 
side of the body are moved by the left half of the brain. 

The Cerebellum or Little Brain and Medulla Oblongata.— 
The cerebellum lies beneath the hind part of the cerebrum. 
It has many deep cuts and folds on its surface. Its use 
is not well understood. It is 
connected with the spinal 
cord and the other parts of 
the brain by three bands of 
nerve fibers on each side. 

Animals in which it is injured 
can move the muscles, but 
they cannot make them work 
together properly. As a re¬ 
sult they tumble about like 221 .—A slice from the side of 

a drunken man. the brain, showing fibers. 

TYiQmedulla oblongata is the stem of the brain connecting it 
with a cord. It is the only portion of the brain whose de¬ 
struction causes immediate death. The. cell bodies in the 
medulla control the breathing and the heart beat, and also 
have much to do with the action of the alimentary canal. 

Paralysis and Apoplexy.—Paralysis is lack of power to 



164 


HOW THE BODY IT GOVERNED 


move the muscles or lack of feeling in any part of the skin. 
It is caused by an injury to the nerve fibers, or to the cell 
bodies. If a nerve in the arm is cut or. pressed upon hard, 
the muscle to which it extends cannot be moved. Pressing 
upon the nerve of the leg sometimes puts the foot to sleep. 
A pressure of a bone on the spinal cord may cause paralysis. 

Paralysis which affects one side of the body may be 
caused by the clogging of a blood vessel in the brain or the 
breaking of such a vessel. The blood runs out and forms 
a clot, which presses on the cell bodies or their fibers 
which carry messages to move the muscles. When par¬ 
alysis comes on suddenly and causes unconsciousness it is 
called apoplexy. 


Practical Questions 

1. Of what use is the nervous system? 2. Name the three parts 
of the nervous system. 3. Of what is the gray nerve matter made? 
4 . What is the form of a complete nerve cell? 5. Of what does a 
nerve consist? 6. What are the cranial nerves? 7. What are the 
spinal nerves? 8. How does a sending nerve differ from a receiving 
nerve? 9. Name some regions supplied by the cranial nerves. 
10. How are the spinal nerves joined to the cord? 11. What is 
supplied by the sympathetic nervous system? 12. Explain how 
the sympathetic nervous system acts. 13. Describe the spinal 
cord. 14. Give the uses of the spinal cord. 15. Explain reflex 
action. 16. Give the parts of the brain. 17. What is the cortex? 
18. Describe the cerebrum. 19. What is the use of the cerebriun? 
20. Why does the left side of the cerebrum control muscles on 
the right side of the body? 21. Of what use is the cerebellum? 
22. Give some facts about the medulla. 23. What is paralysis? 
24. What causes paralysis? 25, What is apoplexy? 


CHAPTER XVn 


THE CARE OP THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND HOW NARCOTICS 
AFFECT IT 

The Brain and the Mind.—^The brain is smaller in women 
than in men, because the body is smaller. The brain of a 
man weighs about three pounds, and that of a woman 
weighs three or four ounces less. A good mind does not 
depend so much upon the size of the brain as upon the size 
and number of the processes of the nerve cells. An ox 
of 2000 pounds has a smaller brain than a man weighing 
120 pounds. The brain of a whale weighing 10,000 pounds 
is no heavier than the brain of some men. The human 
brain is 1-44 the weight of the body, while that of an 
elephant is 1-500 the weight of its body. 

Why the Brain Needs Exercise.—In teachers, lawyers 
and business men, who do much thinking, the brain con¬ 
tinues to grow until near the fortieth year of age, but in 
those who shovel coal or do the same work day after day 
requiring no thinking, the brain stops growing after the 
twentieth year of age. A muscle grows by use and the 
same is true of the brain. One cannot use the mind without 
using the brain. 

How to Exercise the Brain.—In the young there are 
many nerve cells with short processes. These may be 
made to grow by using the cells, as when one studies. 
Thinking causes the blood to flow to the brain and thus 

165 


166 NERVOUS SYSTEM—HOW NARCOTICS AFFECT IT 

bring more nourishment for the cells. Memorizing the 
words of a book does not exercise the brain so much, as 
thinking out what the words mean and then trying to put 
the thought into one^s own language. 

The brain upon which the mind depends grows faster in 
youth than it does later in life. If the mind is not de¬ 
veloped when one is young, it can never become as strong 
as it otherwise would by work in later years. On this 
account one should attend school regularly and try faith¬ 
fully to master his lessons while young. 

How Habits are Formed.—The doing of one thing over 
and over again calls into action the same set of nerve cells, 
and they finally become so accustomed to act, that they 
do so without the aid of the will, and often even against 
it. This is habit. A boy long accustomed to swearing, 
acting rudely, eating rapidly, or looking sullen cannot 
refrain from these ungentlemanly habits later in life, even 
when honestly trying to do so. The cultivation of agree¬ 
able manners and pleasant looks not only makes friends 
in school, but success in later life. 

The Danger of Bad Thoughts.—Evil thoughts passing 
often through the nerve cells leave a blot there which can 
never be entirely erased. The first step toward wrong 
doing is in wrong thinking. Many cases are known where 
the reading of books and newspapers describing wicked 
acts has affected the nerve cells so as to cause the reader 
to commit robbery and other crimes. 

The youth who causes to pass through his nervous system 
into his mind noble thoughts from good people and good 
books, and who learns industry, patience and politeness, 


NERVOUS SYSTEM—HOW NARCOTICS AFFECT IT 167 

is sure of friends and success in life. The mind is like a 
piece of ground which if not sowed with good seed and 
cultivated, will grow up with worthless weeds. It is, 
therefore, important that one should keep in good com¬ 
pany and think and talk about what will make life more 
pleasant and useful. 

Sleep.—It is just as important to rest as to work. The 
only time when the nervous system rests completely is 
during sleep. Grown persons, as a rule, should sleep 
eight hours every night, while those younger should add 
ten or fifteen minutes for every year under the age of 
twenty. 

Continued loss of sleep is sure to result in ill health 
sooner or later. The time for retiring should be the same 
every night, so that one will drop off to sleep within five 
minutes after lying down. Hard thinking or excited 
talking just before going to bed is likely to keep one awake. 

Without the advice of a physician medicine should never 
be taken to make one sleep. Babies should never be given 
drops to put them to sleep. Drinking a half cup of hot 
milk, placing the feet in hot water a few minutes, or tak¬ 
ing a warm bath is an aid to sleep. One or more windows 
of the bedroom should be open both at the top and bottom 
to admit plenty of fresh air. 

The Nervous System and Tobacco.—Tobacco habitually 
used by the young has a more serious effect on the nervous 
system than on any other part of the body. It prevents 
the brain cells from developing to their full extent and 
results in a slow and dull mind. 

Justice David J. Brewer of the United States Supreme 


168 NERVOUS SYSTEM—HOW NARCOTICS AFFECT IT 

Court says: “No cigarette smoker can attain the highest 
position in the world/’ At Harvard during fifty years, no 
habitual user of tobacco ever graduated at the head of his 
class. The New York Division of the Reading Railroad, 





Fig. 122. —Experiment to show how tobacco affects the nerves, m is a 
tube through which the air is sucked from the bottle nearly full of 
water. This draws the smoke from the burning cigarette through 
the tube down into the water. The poison in the smoke from six 
cigarettes was caught in the water which when poured into the jar 
with the fish put it to sleep in a half hour and later killed it. 

which prohibits cigarette smoking by employees, says: 
“Men who smoke cigarettes are liable to lapses of mem¬ 
ory, and it is not safe to trust the lives of passengers in 
the hands of men who have that failing.” 







NERVOUS SYSTEM—HOW NARCOTICS AFFECT IT 169 


How Cigarettes Affect the Minds of Boys.—Long and 
careful observations by many persons show that cigarette 
smoking, not only clouds the intellect of the young, but 
also tends to make criminals of them. Doctor Hutchison, 
of the Kansas State Reformatory, says: “Cigarettes are 
the cause of the downfall of more of the inmates of this 
institution than all other vicious habits combined.Of 
4117 boys received into the Illinois State Reformatory, 
4000 were in the habit of using tobacco, and over 3000 
were cigarette smokers. 

It is unwise to begin the use of tobacco, because when the 
habit is once acquired, it can be broken only by one with 
a strong mind, who is willing to endure suffering caused 
by the longing nerve cells for several weeks after deprived 
of their accustomed poison. 

How Alcohol Affects the Brain.—Much of the alcoholic 
drink taken is absorbed by the blood vessels of the stomach, 
so that it reaches the nerve cells in a few minutes. A 
large amount of alcohol completely paralyzes them. A 
cupful of whisky will make a boy dead drunk and may kill 
him. This deathlike sleep will last for several hours, 
because the alcohol has numbed the cells of the brain so 
that it cannot act. 

One or two tablespoonfuls of whisky, or a glass of wine, 
taken by a boy will make the hand unsteady and cause a 
tottering gait. This is because the alcohol partly stupe¬ 
fies the cells in the cerebellum, which in health make the 
muscles act in harmony. A drunken man reels and stag¬ 
gers when he has taken enough strong drink to prevent the 
cerebellum from doing its work. 


170 NERVOUS SYSTEM—HOW NARCOTICS AFFECT IT 

Alcohol Makes the Nerves Unsteady.—The trembling of 
the hands when attempting to hold them perfectly quiet, 
and a lack of power to stand erect without any swaying 
of the body, are sometimes seen even in moderate drinkers. 
The country of Sweden in 1905 experimented with her 
soldiers, to learn whether alcohol helped them to shoot 
better. On several different days each man was given 
four tablespoonfuls of brandy, and they were then ordered 
to shoot at a mark. The result was that they hit the 
mark only two thirds as many times in 30 shots as upon 
the days when no brandy was given them. The trials 
were made under varying conditions several times a day, 
and the result was always the same. 

Evil Effects of Alcohol as shown by Experiments on 
Animals.—The nervous system of a dog or cat is very 
similar to that of man, and is acted upon by drugs much 
in the same way as that of man. Alcohol given to dogs 
soon changes their character, even when the quantity fed 
them is small. They become timid, nervous, irritable and 
cross. They are so easily frightened that the sound of 
whistles and bells in the distance causes them to yelp and 
howl in an excited manner. Instead of responding to 
caresses they sometimes snap viciously at the hand put 
out to pet them. 

Alcohol Makes the Nervous System Weak.—^The con¬ 
tinued use of alcohol, even in such light drinks as that of 
beer, is known to have a weakening effect on the nervous 
system and to render it more liable to disease. The per¬ 
sons most generally attacked by sunstroke and heat stroke 
are the users of alcoholic drinks. 


NERVOUS SYSTEM—HOW NARCOTICS AFFECT IT 171 

Of 70 persons killed by sunstroke in recent years, it is 
known that all but seven used intoxicating drinks. The 
soldiers in Austria are not allowed to carry any brandy 
during warm weather. 

Alcohol and the Mind.—Since the mind depends upon the 
brain and the health of its cells, it is reasonable to sup¬ 
pose that anything which has a bad effect upon the brain 
might also have a like effect on the mind. Experience 
shows that alcohol does harm the mind. Reports from 
many countries furnish the evidence that insanity, robbery 
and murder increase with the increased use of alcoholic 
drinks, and decrease wherever the law prevents the sale 
of liquor. 

Alcohol Makes Persons Insane. —An insane person is 
said to be crazy or out of his mind. He cannot think or 
reason rightly and often does not know his own brothers 
and sisters. He must be cared for by others, and some¬ 
times must be shut up in a place called an asylum to pre¬ 
vent him from harming himself or others. 

The reports of the asylums in England and Wales show 
that about three thousand five hundred persons are every 
year made insane by the use of alcoholic drink. In one 
county of a certain country one person in every 28 is a 
drunkard. As a consequence one in every 104 of the 
population is insane. 

Alcohol Sends People to Prison. —After the terrible 
earthquake at San Francisco, in 1906, all of the saloons 
were ordered closed for fear that the drunken persons 
would hurt the homeless women and children. As a result, 
the number of arrests by the police were only from two to 


172 NERVOUS SYSTEM—HOW NARCOTICS AFFECT TV 

six per day, for several months, until the saloons were 
opened again. Then the arrests were from fifty to over 
one hundred daily, and it was necessary to put extra 
policemen on duty. 

Inquiry has shown that of the 13,402 convicts in our 

prisons at one time, 4000 
said that the first cause 
of their crime was al¬ 
cohol. 

Chloroform, Ether and 
Cocaine.—Chloro form 
and ether are great 
blessings to humanity, 
when rightly used, in 
preventing terrible suf- 
ering which would other¬ 
wise occur in performing 
operations on the human 
body. When the fumes of 
these drugs are breathed 
into the lungs they are 
carried by the blood to the nerve cells of the brain, and put 
them to sleep in a few minutes. This use of ether was dis¬ 
covered in 1842 by Doctor Crawford W. Long of Georgia; 
further demonstrations were soon given by Doctor William 
Morton of Boston. 

Cocaine deadens for a few minutes the feeling of the 
nerves wherever it is dropped on the skin or forced under 
the skin through a hollow needle. The dentists sometimes 
use it to prevent much pain in pulling a tooth. Chloro- 



V ' 

Fig. 123. William Morton, who demon¬ 
strated the use of ether. 


NERVOUS SYSTEM—HOW NARCOTICS AFFECT IT 173 

form, ether and cocaine are dangerous drugs, and should 
not be used by anyone except experienced persons. Be¬ 
cause of the evil effects of the continual use of cocaine, a 
law was passed in 1908 forbidding the transmission by 
mail of any patent medicine containing cocaine. 

Practical Questions 

1. Give some facts about the weight of the brain. 2. Why should 
the brain have exercise? 3. How can you exercise your brain? 
4. When does the brain grow most? 5. What is habit? 6. How 
is a habit formed? 7. Why is it wrong to harbor bad thoughts? 
8. How much time should be given to sleep? 9. What may aid one 
in going to sleep? 10. How does tobacco affect the nervous sys¬ 
tem? 11. Why is it wrong for boys to smoke cigarettes? 12. De¬ 
scribe the effect of alcohol on the brain. 13. How does alcohol 
affect the nerves? 14. Give facts showing that alcohol makes the 
nervous system weak. 15. What shows that alcohol hurts the 
mind? 16. Give facts showing that alcohol makes persons insane. 
17. Show that alcohol sends people to prison. 18. What effect 
have chloroform and ether on the body? 19. Who discovered the 
use of chloroform? 20. How does cocaine affect the nerves? 


CHAPTER XVm 


ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 



How We Learn of Things About Us.—The organs for 
receiving knowledge of the things about us are called 
sense organs. They are to the nerves what the telephone 
transmitter is to the telephone wire. These sense organs 
are the endings of the receiving nerves. They are the means 

by which all news gel 
on to the nerves to be 
carried to the spinal 
cord and brain. 

One’s knowledge of 
an apple is secured 
through certain sense 
organs in the skin 
touching the apple, 
through the sense 
organs in the nose 
catching the odor of 
Fig. 124.—Thin slice through the skin to the apple, through 

the tongue taking note 
of the sweetness, and through the sense organs of sight 
affected by the light coming from the apple. None of 
these impulses excited in the sense organs can give rise 
to sensations or real knowledge until they reach the brain. 


174 








ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 


175 


The Kinds of Senses.—There are two general classes of 
senses. The inner or general senses are those telling a 
person of the condition of the body. To this class belong 
the senses of hunger, pain, thirst, and weariness. The 
outer or special senses are those which receive and transmit 
to the brain the news of heat, cold, pressure, smell, taste, 
hearing, and sight. 

Senses of the Skin.—In all parts of the skin, there is 
one kind of end organ for pain, another for pressure, 
another for heat, and still a different one for cold sensa¬ 
tions. These organs are little bulbs or other simple struc¬ 
tures, too small to be 
seen without a micro¬ 
scope. They are of 
great use as they tell 
us when the body is 
too hot or too cold 
or when it is being 
hurt. The end organs 
of pain are present 
in many other parts 
of the body besides 
the skin. 

The Sense of Smell. Fig. 125. — The side of the nose has been 

-The end organs of 

° nerve of smell. 

smell are in the mu¬ 
cous membrane of the upper part of the cavity of the 
nose. They are affected only by substances which have 
odor. Their use is to help one to tell when food is fit to 
be eaten, when air is pure, and to give more pleasure 







176 


ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 


in the eating of food with appetizing odors. In case of 
cold, mucus collects on the organs of smell and they are 
squeezed up by the swollen mucous membrane, so that 
they are of little use. 

The Sense of Taste.—The sense organs of taste lie in the 
mucous membrane of the tongue and other regions of the 
mouth. They are tiny oval bodies called taste buds from 
which nerve fibers lead to the brain. 

A substance can arouse the sense of taste only when in 
the form of a liquid or dissolved in a liquid. It is there¬ 
fore important that all food should be chewed many times 
and dissolved as completely as possible in the mouth, so 
as to affect the sense of taste. This causes the gastric 
juice to flow abundantly. 

The Sense of Hearing.—The organs of hearing are the 
ears. Each one consists of three parts, named the outer 
ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear is 
composed of the pinna sticking out from the side of the 
head to catch the sound, and the tube an inch long, ex¬ 
tending inward. Across the inner end of the tube is a 
thin membrane, named the tympanic membrane. 

The middle ear or tympanum is called the ear drum be¬ 
cause it is somewhat like a drum. It contains air which 
may pass in and out through the tube leading to the 
throat. The mouth of the tube is usually closed, but it 
opens every time a bit of food or even saliva is swallowed. 
Three bones form a chain stretching from the outer mem¬ 
brane, which is the tympanic membrane of the middle 
ear, to the inner membrane closing a small oval opening 
into the internal ear (Fig. 126). 


ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 


177 


The inner ear is deep in the temporal bone. It consists 
chiefly of three tubes forming half circles, a tube coiled 
like a snail shell, and a little cavity into which the four 



Fig. 126.—The ear. m, middle ear; d, bone of the middle ear; t, 
membrane of the ear drum; n, nerve of hearing; sem and c, 
canals forming the inner ear. 

tubes open. These parts are filled with fluid and sur¬ 
rounded on the outside with a watery fluid. 

How We Hear.— The tap of a bell or any other sound 
makes little waves in the air much like the waves made in 
water by casting in a pebble. These air waves strike on 
the outer membrane of the ear drum and make it move 
the chain of bones in the middle ear. The bones then 
move the inner membrane so that it makes waves in the 
fluid of the inner ear to strike on the organ of hearing. 
This feeling aroused by the waves is carried by the nerve 






178 


ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 


of hearing to the brain which has learned to know the 
meaning of each kind of wave. 

The Care of the Ears.—Hard objects, such as pencils 
and sticks, should not be pushed into the outer ear for rear 
of breaking the ear drum. The wax which tends to keep 
insects and dirt from lodging on the tympanum some¬ 
times collects in too large quantities in the canal. It 
may then be removed with a soft moist cloth. 

Insects finding their way into the canal of the outer 
ear may be killed or made to come out by putting in a few 
drops of warm soapy water while the patient is lying 
down with the affected ear uppermost. In ten minutes 
after the water is in, the ear should be turned down on the 
pillow when the water will flow out and carry the insect 
with it. 

Ear Ache.—This is a common ailment among children. It 
is sometimes caused b} sitting in the wind after running or 
playing. Sleeping so that the wind blows on the head 
may also produce ear ache. Another common cause is 
the presence of spongy growths called adenoids in the 
upper part of the throat at the back of the nose. They 
close the opening of the tube leading from the throat to 
the ear (Fig. 75). A physician should be consulted. 

Deafness.—The ear is a very delicate organ, and injury 
to any of its parts may cause deafness. A sudden pull 
or a sharp slap on the ear may break the ear drum. In 
many cases nature will mend this break. Water should 
be kept out of the ears when diving, by inserting a wad 
of raw cotton or wool. Closure of the tube extending 
from the throat to the ear, by catarrh, sometimes causes 


ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 179 

partial deafness. A growth of germs in the tympanum 
producing an inflammation as in running ears, may make 
the three little bones grow together so that they cannot 
move freely to transmit sound. 

More than half of the school children in the United 
States suffer from some ailment of the ears, eyes, nose or 
throat. This fact shows the great need of giving proper 
care to these delicate sense organs. After some diseases, 
such as scarlet fever, special attention must be given to 
the ears to avoid partial deafness. 

Testing the Hearing.— Many children are partly deaf 
without knowing it. The hearing of every child should 
be tested occasionally, so that any deafness coming on 
may be discovered early, when it can be remedied. Each 
ear should be tested separately by holding a thickly folded 
handkerchief over the other one. For testing use the 
tick of a watch or a clock. Children who appear dull 
often have the best minds, but do not hear distinctly. 

Curing Deafness.— The deaf and dumb are unable to 
hear because the ending of the sense organ in the inner 
ear is imperfect. Some cases of deafness resulting from 
disease or accident can be cured, but one should never 
pay attention to the numerous advertisements in news¬ 
papers and magazines offering to cure all sorts of deafness. 
They are the words of quack doctors who rob people of 
thousands of dollars and are likely to damage the ear 
seriously. An honest physician does not advertise a sure 
cure for deafness, but does all in his power to help his 
patients. 

The Sense of Sight. —More knowledge is received through 


180 


ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 


the sense of sight than by all other senses combined. It 
is a wise provision that we should have two ears and two 
eyes, for if one is injured the other can do duty lor both. 

The end organs for sight are the two eyeballs connected 
behind with the pair of optic nerves leading to the brain. 



The Eyeball.—The eyeballs are fixed in soft cushions of 

fat in the two cav¬ 
ities in the front of 
the skull. Each eye¬ 
ball is a globe held 
in place by six mus¬ 
cles and the optic 
nerve. The muscles 
cause the move¬ 
ments of the eyeball. 

How the Eyeball 
is Protected.—The 

Fig. 127.—The eye with its muscles. The eyebrOWS On the 
side of the skull is cut away, o, the nerve Jq^ 0 j. part of the 

forehead prevent the 
sweat from running on to the eyeball, and the eyelids 
keep out dirt and too strong light, and other agents 
that might cause injury. The eyelashes on the edge of 
the lids are very sensitive so that the least touch on 
them causes the eye to be closed. 

The tear gland at the upper and outer corner of the eye 
makes a slightly salty fluid to keep the surface of the 
eyeball moist and to wash away dust. A tube, the tear 
duct, carries the tears from the inner corner of the eye 
into the nose. 


ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 


181 


Parts of the Eyeball. —The outer covering of the eyeball 
is a tough coat which is as transparent as glass in front. 
The transparent part is called the cornea. Just back of 
the cornea is a curtain, the iris, which has in it a round 
hole, the pupil, to admit light. The color of the iris gives 
the brown, black or blue color to the eye. 

The outer coat of the eye except the cornea is lined with 
a thin black membrane, 
to keep the light from 
scattering about after it 
strikes the inner surface 
of the eyeball. Lying 
close against this black 
membrane is a tender 
pink membrane, known 
as the retina. This is 
the real organ upon 
which the rays of light 
make an impression to 
be carried to the brain. 

Contents of the Eye¬ 
ball.— The cavity of the 
eyeball is filled with three 
different substances 
called humors. They are as clear as glass. The middle 
one and the most firm of all is the crystalline lens, about 
twice as large and about the shape of a red cinnamon 
drop. It is held in place just back of the iris by means 
of a ligament fixed to the black membrane. The cavity 
in front of this lens is filled with a watery hum,or while 



retina 


Fig. 128.—Ijower half of the left eyeball. 
a, watery humor; h, entrance of the 
nerve of sight, op; ci, muscles to change 
the lens for near sight; ir, iris; co, cor¬ 
nea; I, lens; ch, black membrane. 


182 


ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 


the much larger cavity back of it is occupied by a clear 
jellylike mass. All these parts of the eyeball may be 
seen by getting from the butcher or slaughter house the 
eye of an ox or pig and cutting it open. 

How We See.—In order to see an object clearly, the 
light from it must be brought to a focus on the retina. 


The focus is the 
point at which all 



^ rays of light meet 


H 


as when one holds a 
burning glass over 


Fig. 129.—The rays of light passing through the hand and brings 
a convex lens hd are brought to a focus at/, g^^^ 

together in one tiny spot on the hand. Any transparent 
substance with outward curving or convex surfaces will 
bring the rays of light to a focus. The crystalline lens, 
therefore, brings the rays of light to a focus on the 
retina. This gives an impression which the optic nerve 
can carry to the brain. 

Why Some Persons Cannot See Clearly.—Very few 
grown persons have perfect sight, and many children 
cannot see distinctly objects unless they are held very 
near to the eye. Pupils who must hold this book nearer 
than 16 inches to the eye to read easily, without eye strain, 
are nearsighted. Those who must hold the book nearly 
two feet from the eyes when reading are farsighted. 

Nearsightedness is usually due to the fact that the eye 
is too long from before backward. Farsightedness is 
caused by the eye being too short from before backward. 

The Use of Glasses.—Many persons after reading or 









ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 


183 


studying an hour have headache, and tears gather in the 
eyes because they have been strained to see clearly. The 
muscle controlling the shape of the crystalline lens was 
worked hard to bring the rays of light to a focus on the 
retina. Such a difficulty can be remedied by wearing 
glasses. 

When the glasses suit the eyes properly, one can read 
without headache or eye strain. Nearsightedness is remedied 
by using concave 
glasses, that is, 
glasses with both 
surfaces curving in¬ 
ward toward each 
other. Farsighted¬ 
ness is aided by 
convex glasses which 
have the surfaces 
curving outward. 

How Children In¬ 
jure Their Eyes.— 

Examination shows 
that at six years of 
age four fifths of the 
pupils have perfect 
sight, and only four 
out of a hundred 
have very bad eyes. 

At eight years of age three fourths of the pupils 
have perfect eyes and eight out of a hundred have very 
imperfect eyes. At eleven years of age only about two 



Fig. 130.—IIow the eyes are injured. 





184 


ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 



thirds of the pupils have perfect eyes. This shows that 
most children begin life with good eyes, but hurt them by 
improper use. 

Many children weaken their eyes by reading in a dim 
light, reading in bed, or with the head hanging over the 
book so that there is pressure on the sides of the eyeball. 
Studying books or maps with fine print is injurious to the 

eyes. Smoking much 
tobacco sometimes 
makes the eyes weak. 

How to Keep the Eyes 
Strong. —The book 
should never be held 
nearer to the eyes than 
one foot, and the reading 
of print finer than that 
in this book should be 
avoided by young chil¬ 
dren. Keep the head 
erect when studying, 
and hold the book up. 
If the eyes ache or smart, 
stop using them for sev¬ 
eral hours. Never read 
in a dim light. 

Fig. 131.—Proper position at the table When recovering from 
to prevent eyestrain. ° 

measles, chicken pox ana 

other diseases, the eyes should not be used in reading oi 
sewing, and should be shielded from a strong light. In 
seeking help for weak eyes consult a reliable oculist, and 





ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 


185 


give no heed to the large advertisements by eye specialists 
offering to furnish glasses cheap. Poor glasses may ruin 
the eyes. 

Common Injuries to the Eye.—Cinders and other bits 
of dirt often get beneath the eyelid. Do not rub the eye. 
Holding the oppo¬ 
site eye shut and 
blowing the nose 
vigorously a few 
times, will often 
remove the dirt. 

By looking down, 
another person 
may seize the edge 
of the upper lid and turn it backward over a rounded 
match stick. 

The dirt can then be removed with the comer of a 
clean handkerchief. The lower lid may be merely drawn 
down to clean off the surface. 

Sore Eyes.—^When the eyes are red or inflamed from 
any cause, some relief may be had by bathing them several 
times daily with a solution of boracic acid. This is made 
by dissolving in a teacupful of water as much boracic acid 
as will lie on a silver half-dollar. 

Sore eyes are usually much relieved by being washed 
out with the boracic acid solution, because this tends to 
keep from growing the germs which cause the trouble. 
Care should be taken that the germs in the sore eyes do 
not get on pencils, towels or handkerchiefs used by other 
persons, and thus make their eyes sick. 



Fig. 132.—How a match stick may be used 
to turn up an injured lid for examination. 


186 


ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 


Cataract is a growth in the crystalline lens making it 
opaque. It can be cured only by an operation by a sur¬ 
geon. 

How Narcotics Affect the Sense Organs.—Much chewing 
and smoking tends to lessen the sense of taste. Smoking 
may also decrease the sense of smell by irritating the deli¬ 
cate end organs in the nose. Smoking prepares the way 
for catarrh in the young. This may affect not only the 
sense of smell, but also that of hearing, by extending up 
the tube leading to the middle ear. 

Frequent smoking in the young has been known to affect 
the sight seriously. Doctor Alfred Woodhull of the 
United States Army, says: “Tobacco is liable to render 
vision weak and uncertain, causing objects to appear 
nebulous, or it creates the sensation of floating spots.’^ 
One well known eye specialist alone reports 35 cases of 
injured vision produced by the continual irritation of the 
optic nerve by tobacco. 

Doctor McSherry says when sight fails in smokers and 
no change in structure can be seen, tobacco poisoning 
may be assumed. Candidates for the United States 
Naval Academy, rejected on account of poor eyesight, 
have in most cases admitted using tobacco while young. 

The period of life before twenty is the time when the 
sense organs are most markedly affected by the use of 
tobacco and alcoholic drinks. Even later in life narcotics 
may do lasting injury to the senses. The use of much 
liquor produces bloodshot eyes, because the walls of the 
arteries are relaxed, and so become enlarged. 

Long use of intoxicants has been known to do permanent 


ORGANS FOR RECEIVING KNOWLEDGE 


187 


injury to the optic nerve. This was probably due to the 
paralyzing effect of the alcohol on the nerves controlling 
the blood vessels leading to the eye. 

Practical Questions 

1. What are the sense organs? 2. Explain how we get acquainted 
with the nature of an apple. 3. Name eight senses. 4. Name 
three sense organs in the skin. 5. Of what use is the sense of smell? 
6. Describe the sense of taste. 7. Name the three parts of the 
ear. 8. Describe the outer ear. 9. State three facts about the 
middle ear. 10. Describe the inner ear. 11. Explain how we 
hear. 12. How may insects be removed from the outer ear? 
13. What causes ear ache? 14. What may cause deafness? 15. 
Can you hear a watch tick six feet distant with either ear closed? 
16. What nerves lead from the eye to the brain? 17. Describe 
the tear gland. 18. Name the parts of the eyeball. 19. Give the 
contents of the eyeball. 20. Explain how light is brought to a 
focus. 21. What causes near sight and far sight? 22. How do 
glasses help one see? 23. Describe how children often injure their 
eyes. 24. Explain how to keep the eyes strong. 25. What care 
should be given sore eyes? 26. How does tobacco affect the sense 
organs? 


CHAPTER XIX 


THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS 


The Work of Parasites.—Only one in every forty persons 
dies of old age. About twice that number meet death 
by accidents, while disease is responsible for over nine 
tenths of the deaths of the human race. The numerous 
diseases affecting man may be divided into two classes, 
known as germ diseases and cell diseases. 

The germ diseases are caused by tiny plants or animals, 
called 'parasites, feeding upon the human body, which is 
Tuberculosis their Host, These 

parasites, the 
smaller of which 
are commonly 
called microbes or 
bacteria, make one 
ill chiefly by means 
of the poisonous 
matter which they 
give out. In Eu¬ 
rope and America, 
50,000,000 people are annually laid prostrate by germ 
diseases, which result in over 3,000,000 deaths. 

Bkinds of Diseases.—Such ailments as consumption, small¬ 
pox, and scarlet fever, which may be contracted by breath¬ 
ing in the germs floating in the air, are called catching or 
188 


jHpMhtria Typhoid Pneumonia 

Fig. 133.—The black dots stand for the 
graves made daily in the United States 
for the people dying from the above dis- 


























THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS 


189 



contagious diseases, because the healthy acquire the disease 
by coming near where the sick are, or have been. 

Sicknesses like yellow fever, lockjaw^ and malaria are 
not contagious dis¬ 
eases, for the reason 
that persons living 
in the same house 
and even sleeping in 
the same bed, with 
the sick do not be¬ 
come ill, unless a 
mosquito or a sharp 
instrument carries 
the germs from the 
sick to the well. 

The cell diseases, 
such as alcoholism, 
diabetes, insanity, 
and cancer, are due 
to changed methods 
of work and growth 
on the part of the 
cells in certain re¬ 
gions of the body. 

More people die 
from germ diseases 
than from any other 
diseases. This means that most sickness results from 
tiny plants and animals growing within our bodies. 

Th^ Discovery of What Causes pisease.—Several hundred 


Fig. 134. —Drawing of the enlarged tonsils 
in a ten-year old boy. Disease germs may 
enter the system easily through such large 
soft tonsils. Thousands of germs of 
tuberculosis were found in the left tonsil. 





190 


THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS 


years ago disease was thought to be due to eyil spirits, 
which took up their abode in the body. Here they pro¬ 
duced continuous suffering, until driven out by various 
devices such as beating the patient with a strap, making 
hideous noises, or giving him medicine consisting of pow¬ 
dered bones and dried snakes. 

Although for fifty yearn it has been thought by some 
that many diseases were due to bacteria, yet the fact 
that each of certain diseases is caused by a particular kind 
of bacteria was not clearly proved until 1876. In that 
year, Louis Pasteur, of France, showed that anthrax, a 
sickness of cattle, was caused by a rodlike plant. He got 
a few of these plants from the blood of a sick cow, planted 
them in broth, where they increased rapidly in number. 
A few were then injected under the skin of a healthy cow, 
which soon after became sick. In her blood the same plants 
were foimd in vast numbers. They were also found in 
all other sick cows examined, but never in well ones. 
These studies showed that this special kind of germ is 
always the cause of anthrax. In a similar manner, or by 
some other equally reliable method, it has been shown 

that each of the 
following ailments 
is produced by 
its own particular 
kind of germ: diph¬ 
theria, typhoid 
fever, malaria, 
pneumonia, leprosy, lockjaw, hydrophobia, grippe, ery¬ 
sipelas and tuberculosis. 



plague 


diphtheria 

0 ^ Q 

pneumonia grippe boils 
Fig. 135.—The bacteria of various diseases. 
Much enlarged. 


THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS 


191 


There is no doubt that measles, scarlet fever, smallpox 
and mumps are also produced by germs, but no one has 
yet been able to find them. Since all germ diseases may 
be prevented by keeping the germs out of the body, much 
effort has been made to learn how they gain entrance. 

How Germs Enter the Body.—Safety from bad men, 
who rob and murder, depends largely upon keeping them 
out of our houses. The same is true of the germs that maim 
and kill. When we learn how they enter the body and 
then find a way to shut them out, they cannot harm us. 

The germs of any contagious disease may be taken in 
by breathing, but other ways of entering the body are 
also known. Grippe, pneumonia, sore throat, and whoop¬ 
ing cough are, no doubt, often caught by drinking from 
the same cup lately used by those just recovering from 
these diseases. Numerous disease germs as well as harm¬ 
less ones’ may be present in the mouths of such patients. 
By examining, with a microscope, a glass touched by the 
lips as many as 20,000 bacteria have been found on it. 
More than five thousand germs have been found on a glass 
slip touched with the finger moistened with saliva, as 
when one does this to help turn the pages of a book. The 
fingers touching soiled books, clothing, pencils, or other 
things handled by the sick, may afterward serve to convey 
the germs to the mouth of the healthy. 

How the Germs of Tuberculosis Enter the Body.—Tuber¬ 
culosis, commonly called consumption, the most common of 
all maladies, is generally acquired by breathing into the lungs 
the germs which come from the dried sputum of persons 
having the disease. It has lately been shown, however, 


192 


THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS 


that the germs may also reach the lungs by passing through 
the walls of the alimentary canal into the lymph vessels 
and thence by the blood to the lungs. Here the thin- 
walled capillaries permit the germs to pass through into 



Fig. 136.—A clean glass and two glasses which had been used by many 
pupils. The microscope showed that the dirt- on the two outer 
glasses consisted of saliva, dead bits of skin and millions of germs. 
From a photograph. 

the tissues. The germs once in the body may lie there 
for twenty years without growing, or they may develop 
immediately. 

Experiments Showing how Tuberculosis may be Caught.— 
The lungs of ten healthy guinea pigs fed on milk con¬ 
taining tubercle bacilli became in about two months, 
badly affected with tuberculosis. The tubercular germs 
injected under the skin of hogs and cows, in most cases, 
produced disease in the lungs. Calves fed on the milk 
of tuberculous cows, only a few days, acquired tuberculosis 
of the lungs. 

The sputum or spit of tuberculous patients contains 






THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS 


193 











millions of the disease germs. These may get on the 
furniture or drinking cup, or may be carried by flies from 
the spittoon to food, ^ 

or may dry and be 
blown about in the 
wind. In any case 
they are liable to 
reach the mouth of 
a healthy person. 

The Danger from 
Tuberculosis in 
Cows.—A large num¬ 
ber of cows have 

tuberculosis, but it Fig. 137.—Drawing of a tiny circle on the 
is not often detected glass at the right in Figure 136 as seen un- 
, . 1 l-be microscope. The larger bodies are 

by a farmer until the from the mouths of pupils’ who 

animals become very drank from the glass, and the little dots 
sick. Nearly one ^erms from their mouths. 


0 ^^ 
, /'aV. 
(A' 



Fig. 138.— Germs of tuberculosis. 

Much enlarged. From a photograph. 


third of the cattle of 
Great Britain are said to 
have this disease, but it 
is much less common 
among the cows of the 
United States. Fortun¬ 
ately less than half of 
the sick animals shed the 
germs in their milk, but 
vast numbers of the 
deadly germs are found 
in their manure. Where 


DAV. PHYS. INT.— 13 


194 


THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS 



the dairyman is careless this often soils the cow, then 
becomes dry, and is later brushed off into the milk pail. 

Germs of tuberculosis have been frequently found in 
milk, and numerous cases are on record, where the use 
of milk from sick cows has given the disease to children. 

Tubercular germs lodging in the lungs produce con- 
sumption; in the lymph glands, scrofula; in the skin, lupus; 
in the bones, white swelling, hip joint disease or other 
trouble; and in the membranes of the brain and spinal 
cord, meningitis. 

Typhoid Fever and Water.—The germs of typhoid fever 
get into the body in most cases with food or water. In 
200 epidemics, during each of which from ten to one 
thousand three hundred people suffered with the fever, 

about three fourths 
were caused by water 
and the remainder by 
milk. 

In the winter of 1885, 
the excreta from a single 
typhoid patient were 
cast out on the snow 
along the mountain 
stream supplying Ply- 
^ ^ ^ ^ . mouth, Pennsylvania, 

Fig. 139. — A piece of lung showing tu- . , ^ 

bercles caused by the germs of tuber- water. During the 

culosis. first thaw of spring, 

the germs were carried with the melted snow into the reser¬ 
voir. Two weeks later numerous cases of fever appeared 
daily in the town, until 1,104 persons were sick. More 





THE CAUSE Oj? SICKNESS 


195 


than one hundred of them died. This shows how wrong 
it is to allow the waste from the body to run into a stream 
likely to be used for drinking. 

The scattered cases of typhoid occurring in many com¬ 
munities, may be due to a very slight pollution of the 
water, or to flies carrying the germs from sewers and 
other places to food. 

Typhoid Fever Transmitted by Milk. —Many severe 
epidemics of fever have resulted from bad milk. As the 
cows never have this disease the germs must get into the 
milk from an outside source. This is often the water used 
from a shallow well or stream to wash the cans. A single 
germ clinging to the can is able to grow so rapidly as to 
produce a million germs within twelve hours. 

Frequently germs have been known to get into the milk 
from the hands or clothes of those who have just recovered 
from the disease, 
or from those who 
have been nurs¬ 
ing a typhoid 
patient. 

Germ Diseases 
which are not 
Catching. — The 

germs of lockjaw 24 Q—common mosquito on the left 
are present in the ^^d the malaria mosquito at the right. Note 

soil, and other the difference in positions. 

places, but can do no harm unless they get into a wound 
with the air shut out. Boils or any other inflammation 
are the result of bacteria gaining entrance and growing 




196 


THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS 


beneath the skin. Several diseases, including hydrophobia, 
malaria, yellow fever and sleeping sickness, are produced 
by tiny animals put into the blood by the bite of other 
larger animals. 

Hydrophobia usually results from the bite of a rabid 
dog or cat, with the germs in their saliva. The parasites 
of malaria and yellow fever enter the body only by the 
bite of certain mosquitoes. The malaria mosquito may 
always be recognized by its spotted wings and the oblique 
position of its body to the upright support on which it 
alights. The germs of sleeping sickness are inserted by 
the bite of an African fly. 

Cholera infantum and other sickness of the bowels in 


babies often result 
from the use of un¬ 
clean milk and 
water. 



Alcohol and Dis¬ 
ease.—The habitual 
use of liquor weak¬ 
ens the cells of the 
body which natur¬ 
ally kill off the 
harmful germs. Re¬ 
cent studies clearly 
show that those 
using alcoholic 


Fig. 141. —The mosquita which sucks the drinks, except in 


germs of yellow fever from the sick and 
then in biting healthy persons plants the 
germs in their blood. 


very small quanti¬ 
ties, are not only 



THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS 


197 


attacked sooner than others with germ diseases, but are 
also less able to resist the effects of the disease. 

The greatest Russian scientist has lately shown that 
alcohol paralyzes those elements in the body tending to 
prevent disease. By experimenting he found that in 
exposing rabbits to certain disease germs, only those ani¬ 
mals which had been given alcohol ever contracted the 
disease. 

Serious diseases of the liver, kidneys, blood vessels and 
heart often result from the long-continued use of beer or 
whisky. 

Alcohol and Wounds.— Persons hurt by serious cuts or 
bruises do not usually die because of loss of blood, but 
because germs enter the wound and poison the body. 
Injuries to persons daily drinking beer or whisky are much 
more likely to result in death than the same kind of injuries 
to those abstaining from strong drink. This is because the 
guard cells, the white blood corpuscles, which collect by 
millions in a wound, are hurt by the alcohol and cannot per¬ 
form their duty any better than a drunken soldier on guard. 

Alcohol and Pneumonia.— Pneumonia is a deadly disease 
among drinking people. This is largely due to the fact 
that alcohol has weakened the white blood cells, which 
tend to destroy the germs of this disease. Alcohol also 
causes the blood vessels of the lungs to become more gorged 
with blood, and the mucous lining of the air tubes to be¬ 
come more inflamed. 

Alcohol and Cholera. —In the Old World cholera kills 
thousands every month in the year. Those who have 
studied the disease, say that strong drink is an important 


198 


THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS 


factor ia weakening the body, so that the germs may 
begin their deadly work. 

In a cholera epidemic in England, the death rate was 
four times as great among the drinkers attacked as among 
those abstaining from alcoholic beverages, such as beer 
and whisky. 

Alcohol and Tuberculosis.—This disease causes 5,000,000 
deaths yearly in the world. Scientists, who have been 
studying the cause for this great sacrifice, declare that if 
the use of alcoholic drinks were stopped the number of 
deaths from tuberculosis would soon decrease one half. 

In a large hospital for consumptives it was found that 
only six in every hundred persons had been living without 
the use of alcoholic drink. In a certain district in France 
where much wine is used, ten out of every thousand in¬ 
habitants die yearly of tuberculosis. In other districts 
where very little wine is used, only three persons out of 
each thousand living, die of this disease. 

How Alcohol Causes Tuberculosis.—Liquor always weak¬ 
ens the body cells, which in health are strong enough to 
eat the tubercle germs. Persons who spend money for 
drink are often unable to get a sufficient supply of good 
food. Lack of food makes the body weak, and, therefore, 
an easy prey to the disease. The natural appetite for 
food is sometimes deadened by alcoholic drink, so that too 
little real nourishment is taken to make the body strong. 

Practical Questions 

1. What causes most deaths? 2. What is a contagious disease? 
3. Name some contagious diseases. 4. Who proved that certain 


THE CAUSE OF SICKNESS 


199 


germs cause disease? 5. Explain how it was proved that a certain 
germ causes anthrax. 6. Name eight diseases caused by germs. 
7. How may all germ diseases be prevented? 8. Name five ways 
in which germs may get into the body. 9. Explain how germs of 
tuberculosis enter the body. 10. Describe an experiment showing 
how tuberculosis may be caught. 11. Why is there danger from 
tuberculosis in cows? 12. Name several diseases caused by 
tubercular germs. 13. How do the germs of typhoid fever usually 
enter the body? 14. Tell how the germs from one person caused 
the fever in over 1,000 others. 15. How do the fever germs get 
into milk? 16. Name some germ diseases which are not catching. 

17. How do the germs of malaria and yellow fever enter the body? 

18. What causes cholera infantum? 19. How may alcohol cause 
disease? 20. Why does alcohol make pneumonia worse? 21. What 
fact shows that alcohol makes cholera more severe? 22. Show that 
alcohol is a cause of tuberculosis. 

Suggestions for the Teacher 

By addressing the State Board of Health at the Capital of the 
state, numerous pamphlets on the prevention of disease may be 
secured free of charge. The following circulars on health may be 
had free by requesting them from the United States Department of 
Agriculture: Tubercle Bacilli in Butter; How Insects Affect Health 
in Rural Districts; Bacteria in Milk; Sanitary Milk Production; 
Facts about Milk. Many of the popular magazines also have 
timely articles relating to the cause and prevention of disease. 
From these several sources the children may gather many valuable 
facts which can be made the basis of short essays or language exer¬ 
cises and read before the class. 


CHAPTER XX 


HOW TO KEEP WELL 

Healthy Living—Eating the proper kind of food, and 
chewing it thoroughly, taking plenty of exercise, and 
breathing deeply fresh air, are great aids in keeping the 
body strong and well. Good habits and cheerfulness 
invite health and happiness. Unless care is used, how¬ 
ever, some of the germs of disease are likely to get into 
the body, and then they may grow and cause sickness. 

Fighting our Enemies.—In pioneer days, the foe of life 
was Indians and wild beasts. To-day it is the countless 
unseen life that makes human flesh its prey. Safety lies 
only in making ourselves the conquerors. 

There are three kinds of warfare used in fighting germ 
diseases. One kind is to destroy the harmful germs in the 
excretions leaving the body. A second plan is to stop the 
disease germs scattered about by careless people, from 
entering the body. A third means of keeping away disease 
is to develop substances in the body able to kill the un¬ 
friendly germs entering. 

Destroying the Cause of Disease.—Until 1890 but little 
attention was given to the several means of preventing 
sickness. A sure method of restraining criminals from 
robbing and killing, is to keep them shut up in prisons, 
or kill them. Likewise a certain method of preventing 


200 


HOW TO KEEP WELL 


201 


deadly germs from robbing some citizens of health and 
killing others, is to destroy the germs when they leave 
the body of the sick. 

It is in the spit, and the bowel and kidney excretions 
that the harmful germs generally escape from a patient. 
For this reason all waste matter from the sick should be 
so treated as to kill the germs in it. This may be done 
by adding to it an equal amount 
of 5% formalin or a large quantity 
of boiling water. Any germ killer 
is called a disinfectant. The kill¬ 
ing of germs is disinfecting. Car¬ 
bolic acid, sunshine, and cresol are 
disinfectants. The time required 
for the disinfectant to kill the 
germs is about two hours. 

How Carelessness Destroys 
Health.—Nearly three hundred 
thousand cases of typhoid fever 
occur annually in this country, 
resulting in about forty thousand 
deaths. Three fourths of this 
suffering and loss of life is due to 
negligence in permitting the living typhoid germs in the 
excretions of the sick to escape into the streams, wells and 
soil. Flies are known to carry on their feet and scatter 
over food the disease germs allowed to escape from the 
bodies of patients. 

Hookworm Sickness. — This illness affects many per¬ 
sons in the South. It hinders the growth of children, 



Fia. 142.—The foot of a 
fly showing the hairs to 
which thousands of germs 
cling to be carried to 
food over which the in¬ 
sect walks. Much en¬ 
larged. 



202 


HOW TO KEEP WELL 


and makes older persons feel weak and tired. It is 
caused by tiny worms hanging to the lining of the bowels 
and sucking blood while they give out poison. Their 
eggs, passing from the body with the waste, hatch into 
young which may reach another person with drinking 
water. Usually they spread through the soil and pierce 
the skin of those going barefooted, causing '' ground or 
dew itch,” and then travel by the blood, lungs, windpipe, 
and gullet to their new home in the bowels. A doctor 
can easily cure the disease, but it is better to prevent it 
by using a tight tub or cement tank for the body waste, 
if there is no sewer connection. Health demands that 
the soil and water be kept clean. 

Caring for the Sick.—A person suffering from a con¬ 
tagious disease should not mingle with well persons. He 
should be placed in a large airy room shut off from the 
rest of the house as much as possible and exposed to the 
sun, which is the best of germ killers. The hangings and 
carpets and all unnecessary furniture should be removed. 
Only the nurse and doctor are to be allowed to enter the 
room. No clothing, dishes, or other articles should be 
taken from the room without being soaked in boiling water, 
or other germ killer like 5% formalin. 

Care of the Sick Room.—After touching a patient, or 
handling his clothing, the hands should be thoroughly 
washed with hot water and soap. The clothing and dishes 
used about the sick must be boiled. Toys handled by a 
scarlet fever patient have been known to give the disease 
to others more than a year later. The room should not 
be swept, but wiped up daily with a cloth wrung out in a 


HOW TO KEEP WELL 


203 


quart of water to which a half-pint of 5% formalin has 
been added. Screens should be used to prevent the en¬ 
trance of flies which may distribute the disease germs. 

When the patient has recovered, his entire body, includ¬ 
ing the hair, should be well washed with hot water and 
soap. As soon as the patient has left the room, it should 
be disinfected by the health officer, or some other person 
who understands the 
use of formalin. 

Aid from the Board 
of Health.—In every 
city and community 
there are several per¬ 
sons appointed by 
law to act as a board 
of health. It is their 
duty to help the peo¬ 
ple to keep well. One 
of their number is 
chosen as health officer. 

He should be notified 
by a family, or their 
physician, when any 
contagious disease occurs in their house. He will then, 
free of charge, help them to keep the disease from 
spreading and disinfect the house when the patient has 
recovered. All directions given by the health officer 
should be carefully obeyed. 

Keeping the Germs out of the Body.—With great care it 
is possible to keep out of the body the agents causing at 



Fig. 143.—The young of mosquitoes, called 
wigglers, living in stagnant water. From 
a photograph. 





204 


HOW TO KEEP WELL 


least five of the germ diseases. The bacteria responsible 
for dysentery, cholera infantum and typhoid fever, may 
generally be avoided by keeping flies away from the food, 
and by drinking from clean vessels water or milk known 
to be pure, or by heating these fluids up to the boiling 
point. It is better to pasteurize questionable milk. 

The use of boiled drinking water in Philadelphia, Cin¬ 
cinnati, Cleveland, Louisville, Memphis, New Orleans, 
St. Louis and Washington during the years 1900-1904 
would have prevented 50,000 
cases of typhoid fever. The 
use of boiled water in Pitts¬ 
burg during the same five 
years would have prevented 
10,000 cases of fever in that 
city. 

The germs of malaria and 
yellow fever are easily kept 
out of the system by pre¬ 
venting the two kinds of 
mosquitoes carrying them 
from biting. As the young 
of these insects live only in quiet pools of water, with 
no fish, their numbers may be much lessened by drain¬ 
ing the puddles and pouring out the water in tubs and 
old cans. Where this cannot be done, the young may 
be killed by kerosene poured on the water, using one 
pint for every hundred square feet of surface (Fig. 143). 

The terrible bubonic plague or black death, is conveyed 
to man by the bite of a flea or bug, living on rats and man. 



Fig. 144.—Diagram of the 
bill of a mosquito piercing a 
blood-vessel and giving out 
malaria germs before it 
sucks blood. 



HOW TO KEEP WELL 


205 


Leprosy may also be caught by the bite of bed bugs or 
fleas. 

Why Some Germs Cannot be Kept Out of the Body.— 

When near patients with scarlet fever, smallpox, grippe, 
measles, mumps and chicken pox, there is no way of shut¬ 
ting the germs out of the system, because they become min¬ 
gled with the air. The germs of diphtheria and tuberculosis 
are also likely to min¬ 
gle with the air, unless 
the patients use great 
care. The secretions 
of the mouth and 
nose should always be 
received into a cloth, 
or special pasteboard 
cup, and burned, and 
a cloth, to be later 
burned, should be 
held over the mouth 
while coughing. In 
quiet breathing no 
germs of any kind 
are given off. 

How Germs are Removed from Water. —Many cities getting 
their water from streams likely to contain disease germs, 
pass the water through a layer of sand and coarse gravel. 
This is called a filter. The passing of water through it is 
filtration. The filter keeps back over nine tenths of the 
germs and they soon die. The small house filters are also 
useful, but they should be cleaned daily and boiled weekly. 



Fig. 145.—Why no one should spit on 
floors or sidewalks and why flies 
should be kept away from food. 



















































206 


HOW TO KEEP WELL 



Since the city sand filter has been in use at Albany, 
New York, only one fourth as many deaths occur yearly 
from typhoid fever as previously, and there have been less 
than half as man}^ deaths from diarr¬ 
heal diseases as formerly. At Lawrence, 
Massachusetts, only one fourth as many 
cases of typhoid fever occur yearly as be¬ 
fore the water was filtered. 

How the Body Tissues ICill Germs.— 
There is no doubt that disease germs get 
into the mouth and nose every day. The 
bacteria causing sore throat and pneu¬ 
monia have been frequently found in the 
mouth and throat of healthy people. 
Fig. 146 .— a filter These germs are most likely to bring on 
to strain out the disease. Only when one becomes chilled, 

germs at the body cells are weakened and 

house tap. Such 

a filter must be permit the intruders to get a start. 

In health, the nasal mucus, gastric 
juice and blood are able to destroy 
vast numbers of bacteria. Certain other agents in 
the blood weaken bacteria gaining entrance, so that 
they are easily devoured by the white blood corpuscles. 

Alcohol is the Foe of Health.—The following paragraphs 
are copied from large cards hung by the government au¬ 
thorities of Paris, in public waiting rooms, in order to 
check the waste of health caused by drinking wine, brandy 
and other liquors: “Alcoholism is chronic poisoning re¬ 
sulting from the habitual use of alcohol, even when this 
is not taken in amounts sufficient to produce drunkenness.” 


cleaned and 
boiled weekly. 










HOW TO KEEP WELL 


207 


‘‘The habit of drinking leads to the neglect of family, 
to forgetfulness of all social duties, to distaste for work, 
to want, theft, and crime. It leads, at the very least, to 
the hospital—for alcoholism causes a great variety of 
diseases, many of them most deadly: paralysis, insanity, 
disorders of the stomach and liver, dropsy; it is one of 
the frequent causes of consumption. Finally it compli¬ 
cates and renders 
more serious every 



acute illness; as ty¬ 
phoid fever, pneu¬ 
monia, or erysipelas, 
which would be mild 
in a sober individ¬ 


ual, will rapidly kill XTig. 147 . —Drawing of five white blood cor- 


the alcoholic. 


puscles from a sick man. Note that two 
of them have eaten many germs. 


Body wieiu. iiavc cateu many gexius. 

Becomes Safe from. Some Diseases.—Safety from some 
diseases depends upon the germ-killing power of the 
blood. This power against some germs, such as those 
of tuberculosis, may be developed by using good food, 
taking plenty of sleep, an abundance of fresh air and 
regular exercise. The germ-killing power of the blood 
against the germs of such diseases as diphtheria, smallpox, 
lockjaw and hydrophobia may be developed by the use of 
antitoxin or by vaccination. 

Tuberculosis.—The tiny plants causing this sickness 
are so abundant everywhere that it is impossible for those 
living in towns and cities to keep them out of the body. 
More than half of the people over 25 years of age have, at 


208 


HOW TO KEEP WELL 


some time, had growing in their tissues the parasites 
causing tuberculosis. The fact that 400 people are dying 
daily in the United States, from this disease, and that one 
third of all deaths occurring between the ages of 15 and 45 
years result from tuberculosis, shows the need of trying to 
render the body safe from disease. 

How to Avoid Tuberculosis.—The right kind of living 



Fig. 148.—One way of strengthening the germ-killing power of the 
blood to fight off tuberculosis. 


will, in nearly all persons, make the body able to kill any 
germs of tuberculosis that enter. The living and working 
rooms must be well ventilated. A window in the bed¬ 
room should be opened a foot both at the top and bottom 
in winter, and twice as much when the weather is not cold. 
Good food, including plenty of milk and eggs should be 
taken. Exercise, especially such as calls into action the 
chest muscles and fills the lungs with air, ought to be 




HOW TO KEEP WELL 


209 


indulged in a half hour or more daily, with additional 
walks or games in the open air. Twelve-year old children 
should not have less 
than nine hours of 
sound sleep daily. 

Those who follow 
these rules of life will 
not suffer from tu¬ 
berculosis. Three 
fourths of the half 
million persons with 
the disease in this 
country have been 
overworked, under¬ 
fed, or lived in poor¬ 
ly ventilated rooms, 
with the sunshine 
shut out. 

How to Cure Tu¬ 
berculosis. — A pain 
in the chest, a hack¬ 
ing cough, especially in the morning, rusty or blood- 
streaked sputum, loss in weight, and weariness and fever¬ 
ishness in the afternoon, are strong evidences of tuber¬ 
culosis if they continue several weeks. A physician should 
be consulted. 

Long experience has shown that no patent medicine or 
other preparation advertised in the papers with the ex¬ 
ception of codliver-oil compounds, is of any use whatever 
for the consumptive. Some may seem to help for a 



Fig. 149.—Why open spittoons should not 
be used by a consumptive, or anyone else. 























































210 


HOW TO KEEP WELL 


time, because of the alcohol or other tonic they contain, 
but the help is only temporary. Many of them hasten the 
progress of the disease. The use of beer or whisky or any 
other alcoholic drink advertised to cure consumption, only 
makes it worse, because the alcohol has been shown to 
weaken the germ-killing power of the blood. 

The one treatment which has been tried by over one 
hundred thousand patients and found most successful, 
is living a hygienic life to increase the germ-killing power 
of the blood. Keeping in the fresh air day and night, 
drinking daily a half gallon or more of rich milk and swal¬ 
lowing a half dozen raw eggs, in addition to eating three 
nourishing meals daily, and exercising according to strength, 
have cured fifty-five per cent of the tubercular patients 
taking treatment in the early stages of the disease. The 
physician’s directions must be carefully followed in every 
particular. 

The Danger from a Consumptive.—If proper care is 
taken, there is but little danger of catching, consumption 
from living in the same house with a patient. No germs 
are given off in ordinary breathing. In coughing, a cloth 
to be later burned, should be held before the mouth. The 
sputum must be received into a shaving mug half filled 
with lye and scalded out daily, or into a paraffined paper 
cup with a cover to keep out the flies. The cup should 
be burned at the end of the day. More than ten million 
germs are known to be given off daily by some patients. 
The eating and drinking utensils must be placed in 
boiling water immediately after being used by the 
patient. 


HOW TO KEEP WELL 


211 



Where it is possible, a consumptive should go to a sana¬ 
torium or hospital. These are homes with doctors and 
nurses who thoroughly understand how to treat the sick 
to get the best results. Some of these homes receive poor 
persons free of charge. 

Vaccination for Smallpox.—Before the year 1798, when 
Jenner showed the use 
of vaccination, smallpox 
was the worst of human 
ills. Scarcely any one 
lived beyond the age of 
thirty years without 
being attacked by the 
disease. One in every 
seven who suffered from 
it died, while many others 
were made deaf or blind. 

In 1721 more than 
half of the inhabitants 
of Boston had smallpox, 
and a few years later 
18,000 of the 50,000 fig. 150 . 
residents of Greenland 
died of the malady. It 
killed 60,000,000 inhabitants of Europe in the 18th century. 

To-day smallpox is a rare disease, because vaccination 
properly performed absolutely prevents it. In Germany, 
where the law compels every person to be vaccinated 
twice, the deaths from smallpox are only one twentieth 
as great in proportion to the population, as they are in the 


Von Behring, the discov¬ 
erer of diphtheria antitoxin which is 
saving thousands of lives yearly. 




212 


HOW TO KEEP WELL 


United States. Hundreds of people die yearly in our 
country from smallpox, because they neglect vaccination. 
Everyone, unless in ill health, should be vaccinated in 
infancy and again ten or twelve years later or oftener, if 
near a case of smallpox. 

There is no danger of giving to one any disease by 
vaccination when the process is properly done, as the 
vaccine is now taken from healthy calves. If a clean in¬ 
strument is used on a clean arm, with clean clothing, much 
of the soreness and inflammation may be avoided. 

Antitoxin.—Other means of preventing some diseases 
or curing them are by using antitoxins, secured from the 
blood of domestic animals, treated in a special way. A 
puncture of the flesh by a dirty nail, or the common Fourth 
of July accidents in which powder is blown beneath the 
skin should receive the attention of a physician, who may 
use antitoxin to prevent lockjaw. 

Diptheria antitoxin used in the early stages of the dis¬ 
ease of diphtheria is a sure cure in nearly all cases. It 
saves yearly the lives of 45,000 children in Germany, and 
the lives of more than ten thousand persons in the United 
States. 

If all persons obeyed strictly the teachings of this book 
for healthful living, there would be much less need of 
antitoxins and other drugs. Instead of the 5,000,000 
homes now saddened yearly by sickness, the number might 
be decreased one half. It is better to prevent sickness 
than to try to cure it after it has come through our own 
carelessness. 

Every boy and girl can be a life saver, and show true 


HOW TO KEEP WELL 213 

patriotism by having the courage to live a healthful life 
and help others to do the same. 

Practical Questions 

1 . What helps us keep well? 2. What are the three ways of 
fighting the germ diseases? 3. Name a sure way of preventing 
your germs from harming others. 4. What is a disinfectant? 
5. Name two disinfectants. 6. What causes so much typhoid 
fever? 7. How could we get rid of all germ diseases? 8. Describe 
caring for the sick. 9. Why should you wash your hands after 
touching a sick person or his clothing? 10. How should clothing 
and dishes used about the sick be treated? 11. What is the duty 
of the board of health? 12. Give five ways of keeping the germs 
out of the body. 13. Why should all ponds containing mosquitoes 
be drained? 14. Why are fleas and bugs to be feared? 15. Why 
is it difficult to keep some germs out of the body? 16. What is 
filtration? 17. Show how filtering water saves lives. 18. Why 
do many germs entering the body cause no harm sometimes? 
19. Explain how alcohol is the foe of health. 20. How may the 
body become safe from some diseases? 21. Tell how tuberculosis 
may be avoided. 22. What helps cure tuberculosis? 23. How 
may the danger from a consumptive be avoided? 24. What was 
the result of smallpox before the time of vaccination? 25. Why 
is there less smallpox in Germany than in our country? 26. Name 
two diseases in which antitoxin is used. 27. How many lives 
saved yearly in Germany by the use of antitoxin? 28. How 
many times have you been sick in your life? 29. How would 
the knowledge in this book have helped you prevent any of your 
sickness? 


Suggestions for the Teacher 

In connection with this chapter, the teacher may direct some 
valuable lessons in nature study. The life history of fleas, mos¬ 
quitoes and flies should be studied. All information needed may 


214 


HOW TO KEEP WELL 


be found in pamphlets issued free by the United States Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture or secured from any recent elementary text¬ 
book on zoology. It is important that every one should have a 
practical knowledge of these three kinds of insects which are re¬ 
sponsible for transmitting diseases afflicting more than 1,000,000 
persons annually in the United States and its possessions. 

From May until November, the eggs and the two young stages 
of the mosquito may be found in pools of water or even in pails or 
tubs left standing a week or two out of doors. In malaria and 
yellow fever districts, special attention should be given to the 
means of destroying the young mosquitoes. The children may be 
asked to report in how many places they find mosquitoes breeding. 
Some communities have spent thousands of dollars yearly in 
cleaning out the breeding places of mosquitoes. 

The boys may be asked to find out where the young of flies 
called maggots live in their neighborhood. These pests may be 
found in horse manure, uncovered garbage cans and other kinds of 
decaying matter. Let the pupils suggest means of getting rid of 
flies when they have learned that they can breed only in waste 
matter. 

The care of the teeth, the chewing of food and the use of cold 
baths and fresh air in making strong bodies should be emphasized. 
A health talk by a physician to the entire school is always helpful 
and a great aid in impressing upon the pupils the value of a sound 
body. 


PRONUNCIATION AND EXPLANATION 


OF 

DIFFICULT WORDS 


Ad'e noids: spongy growths at the back part of the nose. 

Albu'min: the largest part of the solid matter in lean meat and 
white of egg. 

Al'co hoi: a substance formed by yeast growing in a sweet solution. 

Al'co hoi ism: a disease caused by using alcohohc drinks. 

A nat'o my: the study treating of the parts of the body. 

Antitox'in: a substance which prevents certain poisons given off 
by bacteria from harming the body. 

Aor'ta: the chief artery in the trunk. It is in front of the back¬ 
bone. 

Ap'oplexy: sudden loss of motion and fainting caused by the 
clogging or bursting of a blood vessel in the brain. 

A sy'lum: a place for the care of the insane. 

Au'ri cle: either of the upper cavities of the heart. 

Ba cil'lus: a rodlike bacterimn such as the germ of consumption. 

Bac te'ri a: tiny one-celled plants often called germs. 

Bron'chi {hron'ki ): the two branches of the windpipe entering thf 
lung. 

Bron'chi al: a name given to the small tubes in th® lungs. 

Cap'll la ry: the smallest blood tube. 

Cat'a ract: a growth in the lens of the eye. 

Ca tarrh': a common name for a cold in the head. 

Cerebel'lum: the little brain. 

Cer'e brum: the large part of the brain. 

Chol'era infan'tum: a dangerous disease causing the deaths of 
about 100,000 children yearly in the United States. It is 
usually caused by impure milk or dirty milk vessels, 

215 


216 PRONUNCIATION AND EXPLANATION OF WORDS 


Chyle {kile) : the digested food in the intestine. 

Chyme {kime): the partly digested food leaving the stomach. 

Cil'ia: tiny hairlike parts of cells lining the nose and air tubes. 
They catch dust and mucus and move them outward by con¬ 
stantly waving. 

Cir cu la'tion: the flow of the blood through the vessels in the 
body. 

Clav'icle {klav'ik^ J)\ the collar bone. 

Co'ca ine {ko'ka in): a narcotic made from coca leaves. 

Coc'cyx {kok'siks) : the small bone at the end of the spinal column. 

Con sti pa'tion; a condition in which the refuse part of the food 
becomes hard and dry in the lower part of the intestine. 

Con ta'gious (con ia'jus): catching. 

Con vo lu'tions (con vo lu'shuns) : folds on the surface of the brain. 

Cor'ne a: the clear front portion of the outer coat of the eyeball. 

Cor'pus cle (cor'pus H) ; a blood cell. 

Cra'nium: the bones surrounding the brain. 

Di'a phragm (di'a fram) : the breathing muscle separating the cavity 
of the chest from that of the abdomen. 

Disinfectant: a substance which kills germs. 

Dys'entery: inflammation of the large intestine with the dis¬ 
charge of some blood. 

Dys pep'si a: failure to digest food properly. 

Ep i glottis: the piece of gristle standing in front of the opening to 
the larynx. 

E soph'a gus (e sofa gus) : the tube known as the gullet taking the 
food from the throat to the stomach. 

Ex cre'ta: the natural discharges from the body. 

Ex creations: any waste matters cast out of the body. 

Fer men ta'tion: the changing of any substance by the growth in 
it of bacteria, yeasts or molds. 

Fis'sure (fish'ur) : a natural cleft in any organ such as the liver or 
brain. 

Formal'de hyde: a germ-killing gas which is dissolved in water; 
the solution is then called formalin. 


PRONUNCIATION AND EXPLANATION OF WORDS 217 

For'ma lin: a good germ killer. A teacupful added to a gallon of 
water makes a fluid in which any plant or animal may be 
preserved for years. 

Gang'li on: a bunch of nerve cells. 

Gar'bage: waste matter from the kitchen and furnace. 

Hy'gi ene: the study of the care of the body. 

Im mune': safe from disease. 

In ci'sors {in ci'sors ): the front teeth. 

In vol'un ta ry: unable to be controlled by the will. 

Lach'ry mal {lak'ri mal): the name of the tear gland and its duct 
into the nose. 

Lac'teals: that part of the lymph system leading from the in¬ 
testines to the thoracic duct. 

Lar'ynx (Idr'inks): the voice box at the top of the trachea. 

Lym phat'ics: small tubes known as lymph vessels which return the 
escaped blood from all parts of the body to the veins in the neck. 

Mas sag'ing (ma sahzh'ing): a kneading and pinching of any part 
of the body to make the cells work better. 

Mi'crobes: bacteria or any other tiny form of life. [opium. 

Mor'phine {mor'fin): a strong sleep-producing powder derived from 

Mu'cous mem'brane: the skinlike Uning of aU tubes of the body 
exposed to the air. 

Mu'cus: the slippery secretion from the mucous membrane. 

Nar cot'ic: a substance which tends to make the organs of the 
body act more slowly. 

Nic'o tine {nik'o tin): the chief poison in tobacco. 

Oxida'tion:the union of oxygen with any substance. 

Pan'creas: an organ in the abdomen which makes an important 
digestive juice. 

Pa ral'y sis: loss of power to feel or move in any part. 

Par'a site: any plant or animal which eats the living substance of 
any other plant or animal. 

Pa ri'e tal: a bone on the side of the head. 

Pas'teurizing: heating a substance to about 150 degrees for a 
half hour or less, sufficient to kill most of the bacteria. 


218 PRONUNCIATION AND EXPLANATION OF WORDS 


Perios'temn: the membrane around the bone. 

Pha lan'ges {Ja Ian'jeez ): the bones of the toes and fingers. 

Phar' 3 mx (fdr'inks): the cavity of the throat. 

Pro'teid: a substance forming nearly all of muscle after the water 
is dried out. 

Respi ra'tion: the exchanging of carbon dioxide for oxygen. 

Ret'i na: the inner coat of the eye. 

Sa'crum: the bone which forms that part of the spinal column 
between the hips. 

Sa li'va: the slippery fluid used in moistening the food in the mouth. 

Sew'age: all household waste except the garbage. 

Stim'ulant: that which hastens the action of an organ without 
later slowing it. 

Tho rac'ic {tho ras'ik ): belonging to the thorax or chest. 

Tib'i a: the larger bone in the lower part of the leg. 

Tra'che a {tra'ke a ): the wind pipe. 

Tu her cu lo'sisc a disease caused by the tubercular germs. 

T3nn'pa num: the middle ear. 

Vac'cine {vak'sin}: a collection of weak germs or a solution con¬ 
taining a weak poisonous product of germs, put into the body 
beneath the skin to prevent disease. Smallpox vaccine con¬ 
sists of smallpox germs weakened by growing them in the skin 
of calves. 

Ve'na ca'va: the chief vein in the trunk. 

Ven'tri cle: either of the two large lower cavities of the heart. 

Ver'te bra: one of the bones of the spinal column. 

Vil'li; the tiny fingerlike growths lining the small intestine. 

Vit're eus: the jellylike humor in the back part of the eye. 

Vol'un ta ly; able to be controlled by the will. 


INDEX 


Abdomen, 43. 

Adam’s apple, 100. 

Adenoids, 109, 110, 178. 

Air, 95, 98; effect on health, 103- 
108. 

Air sacs, 97. 

Albumin, 27. 

Alcohol, 30, 34, 46, 55, 57, 66, 
76; and blood, 82, 83; and blood 
vessels, 92; and bones, 142; and 
brain, 169; and cholera, 198; 
and clothing, 132; and crime, 
68 , 172; and digestion, 57, 58; 
and disease, 196, 197, 198; and 
eye, 187; and health, 67, 68, 
206, 207; and heart, 91; and 
kidneys, 123, 124; and lungs, 
109, 110; and mind, 171; 

and muscles, 151, 152 ; and 
nerves, 170; and pneumonia, 
197; and poverty, 68; and skin, 
125,126; and tuberculosis, 110, 
198; and warmth, 124, 125. 

Alcoholic drinks, 63-64. 

Ale, 34. 

Alimentary canal, 43, 44, 50-54. 

Anatomy, 10. 

Antitoxin, 212. 

Aorta, 21, 81, 83. 

Apoplexy, 164. 

Arteries, 81, 84. 

Backbone, 21, 136. 

Bacteria, 13-16, 32, 80, 122, 123; 
and disease, 15, 190-196; on 
fruit, 31; killing of, 38, 40, 44; 
of milk, 32, 36-38; in water, 61; 
in wounds, 122, 123. 


Bad thoughts, 166. 

Baldness, 122. 

Bananas, 29. 

Barber’s itch, 17. 

Bathing, 119, 120. 

Beans, 33. 

Beef, 29, 30, 31, 38, 39. 

Beer, 34, 35, 46, 64; and the 
heart, 92; and the kidneys, 124. 
Bile, 55. 

Birch beer, 64, 65. 

Bladder, 21. 

Bleeding, 89, 90. 

Blisters, 116. 

Blood, 78-91. 

Blood corpuscles, 78-80. 

Blood plasma, 79, 81. 

Blood serum, 79, 81. 

Blood vessels, 81-85, 151. 

Board of health, 203. 

Boils, 15, 195. 

Bone, structure of, 137. 

Bones, 133-140. 

Brain, 155, 157, 161-164; weight 
of, 165. 

Brandy, 46. 

Bread, 33. 

Breakfast foods, 33. 

Breathing, 95-100, 10'4, 105. 
Bronchi, 97. 

Bronchial tubes, 97. 

Bruises, 122. 

Burns and scalds, 123. 

Butter, 31, 32. 

Cabbage, 29. 

Canned fruit, 40. 

Canned meat, 38. 


220 


INDEX 


Capillaries, 82, 85, 97, 151. 

Carbon dioxide, 96, 98, 99, 107. 
Cartilage, 138. 

Cataract, 186. 

Catarrh, 108, 109. 

Cell, 23, 24. 

Cereals, 33. 

Cerebellum, 157, 163. 

Cerebrum, 161, 163. 

Chewing of food, 44, 45, 51. 
Chloroform, 172. 

Cholera infantum, 37, 196. 

Chyle, 53. 

Chyme, 51. 

Cider, 64, 65. 

Cigarettes, 72, 73; and the mind, 
168, 169. 

Circulation, 88. 

Cleanliness, 113. 

Clothing, 105; and health, 127- 
131. 

Cocaine, 75, 172, 173. 

Coffee, 57. 

Colds, 128-131; in the head, 108. 
Colon, 21. 

Constipation, 54. 

Consumption, 191-194. 
Consumptive, danger from, 210- 
211 . 

Contagious diseases, 188-195. 
Corn meal, 28, 29, 33. 

Corns, 115, 116. 

Cost of food, 29. 

Cranial nerves, 155. 

Cream, 31, 32. 

Crystalline lens, 181. 

Cucumbers, 29, 57. 

Cuts, 122, 123. 

Deafness, 178, 179. 

Death rate, 11, 13, 188. 

Decay, 14. 


Dentine, 49. 

Diaphragm, 21, 43, 98. • 

Digestion, in mouth, 44, 45; in 
stomach, 50, 51; in intestines, 
53, 54. 

Digestive system, 22, 42-56. 

Diphtheria, 11, 15, 16, 37; anti¬ 
toxin for, 212; deaths from, 
188. 

Disease, bacteria, 15, 16; cause 
of, 189-193; germs of, 190; 
kinds of, 188; prevention of, 
200-204. 

Dislocation, 141. 

Drinking cup and disease, 16, 192, 
193. 

Drinking water and disease, 60-63, 
204. 

Dust, 103. 

D 3 ung parts, 25. 

Dj'spepsia, 29, 45. 

Ear, 176, 177. 

Ears, care of, 178, 179. 

Eating, 56, 57. 

Economy in buying, 30. 

Eggs, 30, 31. 

Enamel, 49. 

Epidermis, 114, 115. 

Epiglottis, 101. 

Esophagus, 50. 

Ether, 172. 

Eye, 180, 181; how weakened, 
183, 184; keeping strong, 184. 

Eyes, injuries to, 6, 185. 

Exercise, 54. 

Exercise and health, 150-151, 200. 

Exercising the brain, 165; the 
heart, 89; the lungs, 104; the 
muscles, 147-149. 

Expiration, 98. 

Expression, muscles of, 147. 


INDEX 


221 


Fainting, 89. 

Farsightedness, 183. 

Fat, 24, 32. 

Fats, 28. 

Fever, 11, 15, 37, 60, 61, 130, 195, 
196. 

Fibrin, 79. 

Filtration, 62, 205, 206. 

Fish, 29. 

Flat chests, 148, 149. 

Fleas and disease, 17, 204. 

Flies and disease, 193, 201, 204, 
205, 209. 

Focus, 182. 

Food, cooking and care, 36-40; 

how used in the body, 42-47. 
Foods, 27-35. 

Formalin, 16, 201, 202, 203. 
Fracture, 139, 140. 

Fruit, 28, 34, 40. 

Gall bladder, 55. 

Ganglia, 158. 

Garbage, 61. 

Gastric glands, 50, 51. 

Gastric juice, 51. 

Germs, 13-17, 37, 203-206. 

Gills, 96. 

Ginger ale, 65. 

Gland, 42. 

Glands, 43, 44, 51. 

Grippe, 15. 

Gullet, 21, 50. 

Habit, 106. 

Hair, 121, 122. 

Headache, 33, 45. 

Headache powders, 76. 

Health officer, 203. 

Hearing, 176-178. 

Heart, 21, 81, 83, 84, 88. 

Heat, regulation of, 117, 118. 


Hookworm disease, 19, 201. 
Hygiene, 10, 11. 

Ice water, 60. 

Indigestion, 29, 45, 57. 
Inflammation, 195. 

Insects and disease, 17, 193, 195, 
201, 204, 205, 209, 214. 
Inspiration, 98. 

Intestines, 21, 52-54. 

Itch, 18, 19. 

Joints, 140. 

Kidney, 21, 113, 123. 

Lacteals, 53, 54, 55. 

Lard, 28. 

Larynx, 96, 100, 101. 

Laudanum, 75, 76. 

Length of life, 12. 

Leprosy, 15. 

Lice, 18. 

Ligaments, 140, 141. 

Lister, 123. 

Liver, 21, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56. 
Lockjaw, 15, 195. 

Lymph nodes, 87. 

Lymph vessels, 86, 87. 

Lungs, 21, 96, 97; care of, 103-105. 

Malaria, 15, 196. 

Meats, 30, 31, 34, 38-39. 
Medicines, 64. 

Medulla oblongata, 163. 
Meningitis, 194. 

Microbes, 13-18. 

Milk, 12, 28, 31, 33, 36-38. 

Milk teeth, 47, 48, 50. 

Mind, 165-167. 

Mineral matter, 27, 34. 

Mold, 16, 17. 


222 


INDEX 


Morphine, 74, 75. 

Mosquitoes and disease, 195, 196, 
203, 214. 

Mucous membrane, 44, 51. 

Mucus, 44. 

Muscle fiber, 143. 

Muscles, 143-149. 

Muscles, kinds of, 146. 

Nails, care of, 120, 121 
Narcotic, 69. 

Narcotics, 71-77. 

Narcotics and sense organs, 186. 
Nearsightedness, 183. 

Nerve cell, 24, 155, 158. 

Nerves, 153-158. 

Nerves, endings of, 174, 175. 
Nervous system, 153-173. 
Nicotine, 72. 

Nitrogen, 95. 

Nursing bottle, 37. 

Oatmeal, 33. 

Oil, 28. 

Opium, 74. 

Organs of the body, 21, 22, 43. 
Oxidation, 25, 96. 

Oxygen, 25, 95, 98, 99. 

Oysters, 29. 

Pancreas, 21, 52, 53, 54, 55. 
Paralysis, 163. 

Parasites, 18-20, 188. 

Paregoric, 75, 76. 

Pasteurizing, 38, 204. 

Patent medicines, 64, 76, 77. 
Periosteum, 138. 

Physiology, 10. 

Plague, 204. 

Pneumonia, 15, 191; deaths from, 
188. 

Potatoes, 29. 


Proteid, 27, 28, 31. 

Pulse, 88. 

Reflex action, 160. 
Respiration, 99. 

Ribs, 133, 135. 

Ringworm, 17. 

Round shoulders, 148, 149. , 

Saliva, 44, 191. 

Salivary glands, 44. 

Scarf skin, 115. 

Scarlet fever, 37. 

Scrofula, 194. 

Scurvy, 11. 

Secretion, 43. 

Senses, 174-181. 

Sewage, 61. 

Shoes and health, 131. 

Sick, caring for, 202. 

Sickness, prevention of, 213. 
Sick room, 203. 

Sight, 180, 182. 

Sirloin, 29, 30. 

Skin, 114, 121, 175. 

Skull, 134, 136. 

Sleep, 167. 

Sleeping sickness, 15, 17. 
Smallpox, 10, 211, 212. 

Smell, 175. 

Smoking, effect on eyes, 186. 
Smoking tobacco, 72, 73. 
Snuff, 74. 

Soda water, 65. 

Soft drinks, 65. 

Soothing syrup, 75, 76. 

Sore throat, 15, 16. 

Soups, 33. 

Spinal column, 136. 

Spinal cord, 154, 158-160. 
Spinal nerves, 157. 

Spleen, 21, 52. 


INDEX 


223 


Spore, 16, 17. 

Sprain, 141. 

Starch, 28. 

Stimulant, 69. 

Stomach, 50, 51. 

Strain, 141. 

Sugars, 28. 

Sweat, 127, 128. 

Sweat glands, 114, 118. 
Sympathetic nerves, 157, 158, 159. 
Systems, 22. 

Tallow, 28. 

Tanning and freckles, 116, 117. 
Taste, 176. 

Tea, 57. 

Teeth, 47-50. • 

Tendons, 144, 145. 

Thoracic duct, 54, 86. 

Tissues, 22, 23. 

Tobacco, 45, 71-74; and blood, 
93; and bones, 142; and lungs, 
110, 111; and muscles, 151; and 
nerves, 167. 

Tonsilitis, 37. 

Tonsils, 101, 109, 110, 189. 
Toothbrush, 49. 

Trachea, 96, 97. 

Tuberculosis, 15, 16, 38, 68; and 
alcohol, 110, 198; cause of, 
191-194; in cows, 193; cure of, 


Tuberculosis.— Continued 

209, 210; deaths from, 188, 208; 
germs of, 15; prevention of, 
207-209. 

Typhoid fever, 15, 37, 60, 61; 
germs of, 194; cause of, 37, 194, 
195; prevention of, 204. 

Vaccination, 211, 212. 

Vegetables, 30, 33, 39. 

Veins, 81, 82, 84. 

Vena cava, 54. 

Ventilation, 105-108. 

Vertebrae, 134, 136. 

Villi, 52-55. 

Vocal cords, 100, 101. 

Voice, 101, 102. 

Warts, 116. 

Water, bacteria in, 13, 14; in the 
body, 27; drinking of, 57; in 
food, 31, 33; and health, 60-62. 

Wheat, 28, 29. 

Whisky, 46, 64, 82. 

White swelling, 194. 

Windpipe, 21, 96, 97. 

Wine, 57, 64, 65. 

Wounds, care of, 90, 91. 

Yellow fever, 17, 196, 214. 






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